


New Recruits

by kingsman_recruits



Category: Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)
Genre: Arthur! Merlin, Eggsy & Roxy Bromance, F/M, Gen, Mentor! Eggsy, Mentor! Roxy, Next Generation, Post V-Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-17
Updated: 2016-01-12
Packaged: 2018-04-04 19:46:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 26
Words: 86,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4150512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kingsman_recruits/pseuds/kingsman_recruits
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Blair Asher  has been looking over her shoulder for the past 10 years, waiting for someone to come back and finish the job. After realizing that she is as equally terrified with the comfort that comes with normalcy, she moves back to London, the city where she lost everything. She quickly crosses paths with an old schoolmate, and her world is turned upside-down. Blair has been given the opportunity to become a Kingsman, but what is she going to do with it?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! This is my first Kingsman story, and I am really excited about it. It is post V-Day, and the plot will focus on the characters we all know and love, but it does have original characters as well. If you're on tumblr, I will also post the story there at kingsman-recruits! I really hope you all enjoy it, and I would love to hear your feedback!

The quiet purr of a radio floated its way through the small apartment, mixing with the soft puttering of water hitting shower tiles and the rumbling of a garbage truck. A girl’s humming was starting up, but was cut short by a radio announcement: “Day 34 of the clean-up is progressing slowly. John, we want our listeners to know that the city is focusing its efforts on neighborhood clean-up today. Ladies and gents, if you’re in Bloomsbury, Holborn, or Islington today, expect delays at all surrounding tube stations, as there will be crews all around those areas holding up above ground traffic. Parents, please try to keep children indoors...” The thudding of shampoo bottles falling in the shower and loud swearing drowned out the rest of the message. The radio was quickly turned off, and a towel-clad body ran around the apartment looking for a clean uniform. Less than ten minutes later, a girl with damp hair emerged on the front porch of the apartment complex. When she caught sight of the pack streets filled with city officials and workmen, she stopped completely. Remembering the radio message, she had to consider her options: waiting on an even more crowded than usual train to take her to her job interview, in which she would certainly be late, or to run, which would definitely make her a sweaty mess, but maybe slightly less late. There was no time to waste, and a rash decision needed to be made.

She ran through the streets, dodging workmen and heavy machinery. As she weaved through the crowds, she made sure not to bump into anything or anyone that would ruin her outfit even more than the sweat that was forming under her arms and in the middle of her back. She made it nearly six blocks before she ran into any problems, but as she turned the corner to avoid a massive caravan of cement trucks, she ran headfirst into a portly man carrying a clipboard and the biggest cup of coffee she had ever seen. Somehow managing to miss the scalding hot coffee, she issued a loud apology to the now screaming portly man. He grabbed her by the wrist, threatened to hit her with his clipboard, before being pulled away by a man with a bag of ice. The young man, while trying to calm his boss, shooed her away. She looked at her watch as she turned to leave and realized that it was nearly 9:00. Muttering under her breath, she continued on for the next 15 minutes before she arrived to a large office building. She hung her head to avoid the glare of the doorman, and rushed to the restroom, hoping to wipe off some of the accumulated grime before going to the 21st floor, where her interview was to be held.

Looking in the mirror, she saw just how horrible she looked. Her hair was now dry, but had specks of wood and debris from construction threaded throughout. Her makeup needed to be washed off completely, as it was running down her cheeks in streaks. Her blouse was dotted in sweat stains, but she was fortunate enough to have remembered to pack a raincoat in her bag. Shrugging that on, she knew there was nothing else she could do to salvage her appearance. Leaving the restroom, she told herself to just be completely honest with her interviewer. The construction blocked all other routes, and I didn’t want to be any later than I already am. I’m so sorry. I normally do not look like this. I swear, I am always put together.

Her thoughts consumed her until she found herself on the 21st floor. Exiting the lift, she glanced around the room. Other candidates lined the walls, and turned their heads when she noticed them staring at her. Holding her head as high as she could, she walked to the front desk, where a receptionist was noisily typing away. The woman did not look up as she approached, instead lifting a finger indicating for her to wait. A moment later, the typing ceased, and she was asked for her name and interview time.  
“My name is Blair Asher. I’m sorry, my appointment was scheduled for 9:00, but the clean-up took over all of the neighborhoods surrounding me, and the tube stations were completely packed. I am so sorry, but I got here as quickly as I could.” The receptionist was staring at her now, and her mouth was slightly agape, due to the still sweating face of the girl who looked like she was no older than an incoming university student. Her mouth closed as she formulated the words to say. Blair, taking the silence in, looked around the room, and found none of the heads of the others up, but all of their hands attempting to busy themselves to prove that they were not listening to the conversation taking place.

“Miss Asher, I am sorry, but we do not accept late arrivals. Your seat has already been given up and we have moved on in the interviewing process. I am sorry, but there is nothing I can do for you.” There was almost a hint of sympathy in the old woman’s eyes, but she quickly shut down and continued her typing. Blair, trying to figure out how to talk her way into the interview, sighed in defeat. This was not the job she wanted. This was not the life she wanted. Her head lowered itself, as she mumbled a quiet ‘thank you,’ and went back to the lift. As the doors closed, she leaned her head back against the cool wall of the elevator, and closed her eyes. She had only been back in the city for a few days, and she was wishing for her life back in America. Sure, she had been an outsider there too, but she had a few friends from university, and her studies, and her work. Things were finally resembling something that could be considered normal, and then she left, because the normality of it scared her. She had thought for years that that was what she had always wanted, but she still felt the same. She was still scared to walk the streets at night by herself. She was always looking over her shoulder, waiting for someone to come and take her and finish the job they had started all of those years ago. And now, she was alone.

Moving was the only option that came to mind, and when she was searching through cities on airline sites, her eyes landed upon London, and she knew that was where she was meant to go. She wanted to stop feeling this way, and in order to do that, she had to face her demons. So she moved, back to the city that haunted her dreams, and commanded her nightmares. She was trying to adjust, and getting a job seemed to be a good start. But working in some high-rise with miserable looking people did not settle her stomach. She knew from the beginning that it was a mistake, but it was supposed to help her build a sense of security. Maybe she wasn’t supposed to feel secure. Maybe she would live out the rest of her days thinking about those few months of autumn all those years ago.

Blair shook these dangerous thoughts from her head as she left the building. Her first task was to find some clothes that were not covered in her sweat, and even though she had not gotten the job, or even the interview for that matter, she rationalized buying the new clothes. She couldn’t go home yet, because then she would realize how big of a failure she was. But she certainly could not walk around in her current outfit either. Finding the nearest open shop, she bought the cheapest pair of jeans and a crew sweatshirt, and changed outfits in the public loo outside. She ran some more water over her face and through her hair, and left the small room feeling slightly better about her situation. As she looked around to take in where she actually was, she heard her stomach growl and remembered that she had left her apartment in such a rush that she completely skipped breakfast. Spotting a coffee cart in the nearby park, she briskly walked over and ordered a small coffee and a doughnut. Thanking the barista, she found any empty park bench and began to watch her surroundings.

She noticed that the clean-up was, for the most part, completed in this area. Since the fiasco the news reports are now calling “V-Day,” the city has been slowly rebuilding itself, along with the rest of the world. Much was still unknown about the tragedy, and loved ones were still holding on to hope that maybe there were still uncounted survivors. Blair, being a bit of a cynic, felt that all that were still alive had been found, and that most still holding on to hope, would need to let go sooner or later. Millions of people were killed, including world leaders, celebrities, and many well off families. They are what the news had been featuring, but it was the 99% of people that were victims of some cruel biological hacking that have been reduced to a number. Their names did not matter, if their backgrounds did not matter. Blair often found herself shutting off newscasts because she couldn’t stand to hear about how much the rich community suffered. She was by no means, entirely separated from what one would call the rich community, but after everything that had happened, she didn’t like to associate herself with her family name as much as she used to.

Her mind continued to wander as she stared off at mothers carting their children around, at men rushing into businesses, and as women grabbed their papers and coffees before joining a small group headed for god knows where. That was until she caught someone looking at her. She knew from her last visit to the restroom that she did not look like a wreck or completely out of place, so she found the attention to be slightly unsettling. A girl, not much older than she, was standing at the same coffee cart she had been at not many moments earlier, and she did not take her eyes off of Blair. Instead of going her own way, she approached Blair’s bench. As the girl got closer, she began to look slightly familiar, but Blair couldn’t figure out who she was. The girl’s dirty-blonde hair was pulled up in a tight ponytail, and she was wearing a nicely tailor, dark blue suit. She had a warm smile on her face, but she looked hesitant. Soon enough, she was standing right in front of Blair.

“I’m sorry to disturb you, but you look awfully like someone I used to know. Is your name, by any chance, Blair Asher? I think we used to go to primary school together?” This stranger looked hopeful, and Blair was sure she looked confused.

“That’s me. I’m sorry, it’s been so long, and I’ve been away for quite some time...”

“Right, sorry. My name’s Roxanne Morton, but I have always gone by-“

“Roxy! Oh my gosh, Roxy. I am so sorry, you just look so different now. I mean we both do, but it’s been, what? 10 years or so? Wow, it’s so nice to see a friendly face!” Blair quickly stood up to hug Roxy, and all of her fears of being watched by a stranger disappeared.

“I can’t believe it’s been that long. When did you move back? The last I had heard, you were moving to America after everything that had happened.”

“Just a few days ago, actually. I needed a change and moved back. I came down to this side of town for a job interview, and had to run here because the clean-up had clogged all of the tube stations between here and King’s Cross. I was late of course, because I didn’t plan on having to run, and, well you know how it is down here. They don’t like it when you’re late.” Roxy laughed, and took a sip of her coffee.

“No they most certainly do not. I actually have to get to work, though,” she said as she stood to leave. “Wait a minute, we are actually looking to hire if you’re interested. It’s a complicated line of work, but I know you had some training after the incident that could be useful.” She paused, realizing that she brought up the subject that Blair had been meaning to avoid, and looked away sheepishly. “Blair, I am so sorry, I didn’t even think. I didn’t mean to...”

“No, Roxy, please, it’s really alright. I did go through some classes after the incident, but how exactly will self-defense classes help me?”

“Like I said, it’s complicated. Why don’t you at least walk with me to the shop I work at, and I will try to explain things the best I can. It’s excellent pay, and there are some really nice benefits."

“Yeah, alright. I’ve got nothing else to do today.” With that, Blair stood up, tossed out her coffee, and began walking with an old friend to some unknown location.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has read and enjoyed New Recruits so far! I am really enjoying writing this! Anyways, here's the next chapter. And as always, feedback is greatly appreciated!

“Roxy, we’ve been walking to wherever you work for the last 20 minutes or so and I still have no idea what you do? You work out of a tailor shop, but you’re not actually a tailor, and you’re not a sales clerk, and well – I don’t even know what other jobs would be needed for a tailor shop. Maybe an accountant? And you said my self-defense training would be useful, and I am really not seeing any connections here.” Despite Blair having absolutely no idea as to what she was getting herself into, she continued to walk with Roxy. She had to admit, it was nice having someone to talk to. Someone that already knew almost her entire story, at least the parts of the story that really mattered in the long run. She was honestly confused though, and wanted Roxy to actually tell her what she really does for a living. She kept avoiding Blair’s direct questions, and instead, talked about the pay and some of her coworkers, but she never mentioned any names. Blair was suspicious, but Roxy never seemed like the type of person that would lead her astray.

“Blair, look, I should have told you before we started walking that I can’t truly tell you much until we get to the shop. Things are complicated, and well, they need to stay that way. I’m sorry this is so cryptic, but you’ll understand soon, I promise. I really do think this will be a good fit for you.” Roxy continued to walk, and they soon rounded a corner. Blair took in her surroundings, and saw that the area around here was slightly under construction, but it was just normal construction. The clean-up must have been completely down here already. “We are almost there, it’s just a few shops down.” Blair tried to move her head to focus on the shop names in front of her, and Roxy laughed a bit. “I promise you, there is a real tailor shop on this road.”

“Sorry, it’s just weird, you know? If I talk to one of your superiors or something while I am here, I don’t want to make a fool of myself for not knowing what I am actually doing here.”

“It won’t be like that at all. Okay, Blair?” Blair could hear the concern in her voice, and somehow, she trusted Roxy. It had been years since they had last seen each other, but she remembered Roxy looking out for her after everything that had happened. She would stop at the hospital every day after school, and taught Blair their lessons, and helped her with her homework. She kept her up to date on everything that was going on between their peers and never pushed her to talk about things. She came to take Blair’s mind off of the situation, when truthfully, their friendship did not require anything of the sort. The friends Blair had expected to show up to the hospital never did, and that made Roxy’s visits even more important at the time. Blair owed Roxy for that, and trusting her in this situation seemed to be an appropriate first step.

Roxy lead Blair to a small shop with gold font on the window, indicating that the name of the tailors was Kingsman. It had a certain ring to it, and as soon as she stepped inside and noticed a few other customers, she felt safer. The man at the counter greeted the pair, came up to Roxy, and leaned over to whisper something in her ear. Roxy nodded her head, and thanked the man. She then led the way into a small dressing room. Closing the door behind her, she took a deep breath and began to explain.

“Blair, the shop we are in has been operating for over 100 years now, and it has dressed some of the finest men and women the world has ever seen. Kingsman is not just a tailor shop, though. The world came was soon faced with a time where it needed intelligence agencies that were above politics, and that truly wanted to preserve the lives of the innocent. Kingman took it upon themselves to be that agency, and today, we are the ones protecting life, without looking for the glory that comes with being the ‘hero.’ Blair, where were you on V-Day?”

“V-Day? I... I was told by an old family friend to lock myself away somewhere where I wouldn’t be able to get out and no one else would be able to get in.” At that admission, Roxy was floored. Very few people knew of what was going to happen, and yet, Blair was warned ahead of time. Roxy’s thoughts raced, and her carefully planned out speech faltered.

“An old family friend? Who? The public was supposed to be completely unaware of what was going on.” Blair’s head tilted down as she said that she didn’t know who it was. The voice on the phone told her to get to safety, and then when she questioned the man, he only revealed himself to be a friend of her father’s. Roxy tucked that information back into her mind, saving it to recall to Merlin later. “Huh. Well, the UK Headquarters of the Kingsman were the ones to put an end to Richmond Valentine and his plan to rid the world of its supposed ‘virus.’ Unfortunately, millions of people lost their lives that day, but had we not become aware of the plot and attempted to stop it, you and I, and everyone that we know would have been dead.” Roxy paused, sensing that Blair needed a minute to soak in this information. It was a lot to reveal, especially since the new leaders of the world were attempting to cover up what little information they had.

“You’re telling me that you and the rest of the ‘tailors’ here saved the world? Rox, geez, I don’t even know what you’re telling me right now. Okay, hold on,” Blair closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, and stopped for a minute. “Alright, you, Roxy Morton, are a member of a secret intelligence agency that saved the world on V-day. Okay. Alright, wow. Okay. So, you saved the world. Okay, I’m going to take your word on this. But this still doesn’t add up as to why I am here.”

“V-Day taught us a lot, like how much we need more people around that we can trust. The head of our organization teamed up with Valentine, and because of it, we lost one of our greatest agents in the events leading up to the culling. Blair, I think that you have more knowledge about how some of the bad guys work than most people do. Not only that, but I know you care about the innocent and want to be able to protect yourself and others. You proved that when you took those self-defense classes. I remember one day when I came to visit you, you were asleep, and as I was about to leave you to rest, you woke up just enough to say that no one should have to experience what you did. And I knew from that moment on that you were going to become fearless. You would protect those that needed it, and you would never fall into a situation like that again without putting up a fight.”

“Woah, woah, woah. Rox, that’s where you’re wrong. I did want to protect myself, and I would never want anyone to experience what I did, but I am terrified. Every day. I moved back here because I got too comfortable, and that scared me. And then I’m here, and I am still terrified. I am constantly waiting for someone to come back for me, for someone to try even harder this time to end me. The police said that it was clear that whoever did that to my family meant to get all of us, and they didn’t! And the police weren’t able to find all of the people that were involved. God. They are still out there. And what if they haven’t forgotten about me? What if they were waiting for me to come back?” Blair’s hazel eyes began to cloud up with tears, but she would not let them fall. Her lower lip trembled in a way that showed she was trying her hardest not to let her emotions get to her. But Roxy would not give in so easily. She reached over slowly, making sure that touching Blair was okay, and when she didn’t resist, pulled her into a hug.

“Blair, going through this process then will help you overcome those fears. Whether you realize it or not, right now, you are being braver than ever before. Reliving, even just by talking about it, will help you overcome it. And even if, in the end, you do not become one of us, you will leave here with the skills needed to protect yourself and live without the fear that someone could take you without your consent. Blair, I promise you, taking this step would be something your parents would be proud of.” At that, Blair looked up, as if to say: “how would you know what my parents would want?” But Blair knew Roxy was right. Her parents had always told her that she would overcome any obstacle in her way. It had been a long time since her mom and dad had tucked her in at night, telling her stories of how she could conquer her fears if she only tried, but she dreamt of those nights every once in a while, and that’s when she knew that her dad, of all people, would have wanted this for her. Her dad wanted the world for her, and this was how she could get it. “Blair, I am offering you the chance to become a Kingsman, only if you want it. It will be a long and difficult ‘interviewing’ process, but it is well worth it.”

Roxy watched Blair’s movements, waiting for a sign of what she was going to do. After a few seconds, Blair’s head lifted up and matched her gaze. She quickly wiped at her eyes, willing the tears to go away, and then nodded her head. “At this point, I have nothing else to lose.” Small smiles warmed both girl’s faces, and Blair let out a laugh as Roxy handed her a tissue from her back pocket. Without saying another word, Roxy lifted her hand up to the mirror that stood opposite of them, and Blair’s eyes lit up when she noticed a green light being emitted. The light moved alone the length of her hand, and with a slight jolt, the changing room they were in, began to fade away. Whipping her head around, she saw that the walls appeared to be moving upward. It was then that she realized that she was moving downward. Roxy watched the girl in amusement, and then pushed her forward when the floor came to a stop.

Awaiting them was a carriage. The basic design reminded Blair of the tube, and as she was seated across from Blair, her suspicions were confirmed. The doors closed and they were immediately off. A real giggle was let loose, and Blair clapped her hands to her mouth, as if embarrassed to be as amazed as she was. Roxy smiled at her, and then laughed as Blair’s pupils just continued to grow.

“When I was first brought down here, I wanted to do the same thing. But my sponsor seemed to be the type of man who would rather I kept my amazement to myself. I still feel those butterflies that you’re probably feeling, though, every time I enter this way.”

“So, you’re my sponsor then? What exactly does that entail?” Blair shifted her focus to Roxy, and she looked like a kid in a candy shop. Everything was new, and there was a slight sparkle in her eye. It made Roxy feel like Blair hadn’t felt this way in a very long time.

“Honestly, not much in the beginning. I’ll be at all of your training sessions, but I am not allowed to really discuss things with you in depth once everything has started. When you make it to the final two, which you will- don’t look at me like that! – we’ll get to spend more time together and we will actually be able to discuss whatever we want. But until then, my advice to you is to not let your competition get to you. The way the testing will be going on this time around is a bit different than what I had to go through, and it will hold some serious challenges. But the best thing for you to do, is to listen to every single thing your ears pick up and to observe. That is how you will get through this.”

The carriage was slowing to a stop, and soon, the two girls entered a long room that looked like a control center. Blair felt as if her senses were going into overdrive, as she had taken Roxy’s advice seriously and began to observe everything she came across in even more detail. The walls were lined with monitors, and there was a single chair in the room. The far wall opposite of the carriage was a window overlooking hundreds of workers attending to planes, trucks, and all sorts of machinery. As she got closer, she realized that some of the planes looked like models her father used to build. When she asked him one day why he enjoyed doing that after a long day, he said that it helped him unwind from work without really having to take his mind off of important tasks at hand. She never knew what those tasks were, but accepted his answer, and asked if she could help. Every day after that, when he father came home from work, the two of them would head into the spare room and spend hours building model planes. It had become their thing, and her mother would always have to pull them away, sometimes physically, to get them to eat dinner.

Blair realized she had zoned out slightly when she felt a small tug at her shirt sleeve. She saw Roxy lift her head to the side, indicating that they were supposed to be headed that way. Blair was about to apologize for not paying attention when Roxy cut her off, explaining that everyone experienced that daze when they first walked into the room. Feeling slightly less embarrassed of her awestruck behavior, she followed her sponsor down a corridor, where she saw a tall, bald man standing in the middle of the hallway. He was wearing a sweater vest and was carrying a clipboard. Blair was immediately reminded of the man she ran into earlier in the day, and hoped that he had not been burned by the coffee too badly.

Roxy walked up to the man and motioned for Blair to follow. He had a very calculated look about him and didn’t look up at either of them until they were standing right in front of him. “Lancelot, you’re early. Who have you brought with you?” His eyes flickered over to Blair, and she stood a little straighter.

“Merlin, I mean, Arthur, this is Blair Asher. Blair, this is Arthur. He will be running this operation and he is the new head of our organization. He primarily dealt with the technical aspects of Kingsman, but has recently found himself handling a lot more than just that.” Roxy smirked at Arthur, as if there was some joke they had just shared, and Blair put her hand out to shake her potential boss’s hand. He looked pleased, and a bit surprised, as he reached out to shake her hand, and then he welcomed her.

“Blair, this is where Roxy must leave you for now. There are already a few potential recruits inside, but we are waiting for a few more.” Blair nodded her head, and was about to head inside when she heard Roxy address her.

“Good luck, Blair. I know you can do this.” Blair was about to thank her, but Roxy’s mind was already thinking ahead. She gave them both a quick smile as she pulled open the door Arthur had pointed to. As the door was closing, she heard Roxy ask Arthur about whether or not a guy named Eggsy had arrived yet. _Curious name_ , Blair thought as she looked around the room she had just entered. It was simple: 10 beds, a few toilets and showers near the end ( _absolutely no privacy_ ), and a few boys. They glanced over when they heard the door close, but upon seeing her, returned to their conversation. She walked in, and claimed a bed closer to the door. It was then that she realized she still had her bag with her from that morning’s interview, and she used it to claim her territory. As she sat down on her bed, she heard the door open once more. This time, four more boys walked into the room. Most of them didn’t seem to even glance in her direction, but she noticed one boy give her a small smile. He was clearly just as nervous as she was.

She pretended to busy herself with her few things, when she noticed that the voices of the boys that just walked in sounded familiar to her, but felt out of place at the same time. She listened closer, and she realized that they were American right as someone tapped her on the shoulder. She jumped a little, but tried to control herself when she turned around. She couldn’t let these guys think she was easily scared. It was the boy who had smiled at her before, and he was looking just as sheepish now. He extended his hand, and introduced himself as James.

“James? It’s nice to meet you. I’m Blair. Are you lot from the states? I didn’t know that the recruitment process was extended past the UK at this level?” At this point, a few of the others had come around to introduce themselves as well. Blair made a mental list of their names and their accents as they went around the circle: James – American, Jack – English, Austin – American, Max – American, Nicholas – American, Harry – English, Sean – Scottish, and Ben – English.

Austin, one of the Americans that ignored Blair when he came in, answered her question with annoyance: “Max, Nick, James, and I,” he explained, gesturing to his counterparts, “have, for some reason, been asked to complete parts of our testing here. We have already completed many tasks at home, but US HQ wanted us to come over here and show you how it’s done.” He high-fived Max and Nick, and she already knew who to stay away from. James also had gotten that message loud and clear, as he tried to distance himself from them as well.

“Wait a minute. You think we need you lot to show us how it’s done? UK HQ is superior to the US in all ways, and everyone knows it. If you guys are so great, why didn’t you pick up on Valentine’s plan first? He was, after all, operating out of your country.” That was Jack, and his tone let Blair know that she should probably stay out of his way as well. “You’re all here to undergo our recruitment process, because it is the most difficult and telling process ever created by a Kingsman.”

The sound of the door opening again caused the argument to come to a pause, as all of the potentials looked over at who was joining them. Blair had hoped for another girl to help cut through the raging levels of testosterone, but she found yet another boy looking at them all. He immediately knew that he walked into an argument, and held up his hands as if to say “don’t let me stop you.” Austin started making his way towards Jack, but was, once again cut off by the sound of the door opening, and this time, everyone knew the argument was over.

Arthur looked at them all, refrained from rolling his eyes, and ordered them to fall in. Blair, having never been in the military or any other service, watched the boys organize themselves into two lines, and took her spot in front, next to the new guy. Arthur was looking down at his clipboard as they got themselves in order, and then walked over to one of the beds. He picked up an item from the bed that Blair had failed to notice as she came in ( _Damn it, Blair, observe!_ ). Arthur held it up for all of them to see and then asked the group what it was. Blair surprised herself when she raised her hand, and was even more shocked when she answered Arthur after he pointed to her.

“It’s a body bag, sir.” _How the hell do you know that? Where have you ever seen a body bag?_ The thoughts were racing when she heard Arthur say “good job.” She smiled slightly before realizing how she knew what that was. The first and last time she had seen one, was when her parents were being carried out of their house. She shook her head slightly, straining herself to focus solely on what Arthur was saying.

“...you will write not only your name on this bag, but also the name of your next of kin. This signifies your acknowledgment of how dangerous this ‘job interview’ really is and stresses the importance and agreement to our strict confidentiality rules. If these rules are not followed, then you will find yourself _and_ your next of kin in that body bag.” Dear lord. Blair looked around and saw that none of the boys looked as appalled as she did. Looking back at Arthur, she caught his eye. They stayed like that for a half of a second, before he shifted his focus back to the rest of the group. “Understood?” Everyone, included Blair, nodded. “Good. Now you are all probably wondering why this is a more diverse group than what we have had in the past. UK HQ has invited the American agency to complete their recruiting process with us. We all have a lot we can learn from each other, and I expect all of you to act professional. This is not a competition to see what agency is better than the other. So you will all work together as a team, and learn from each other. Do I make myself clear? Good, fall out,” and with that, he left the room.

There were a few eye rolls from all sides of the room, but eventually, everyone walked over to the self-designated beds, and began filling out their body bags. Out of the corner of her eye, Blair noticed that the new guy had taken the bed right next to her. She caught him looking around, bewildered at what had just happened, and decided that he was probably on the same page as her. She fully turned to look at him, and smiled when he looked up at her.

“Hey, I’m Blair, and you are?”

“Andrew. Hi.” He leaned closer to you, and whispered, “Is this normal?”

“Honestly? I have no idea, but what are the chances of one of us dying during testing, right? They... they can’t do that. At least, I don’t think they can.” She realized that she was just as in the dark as he was, but they filled their bags out anyways. When she got to the part asking her to list her next of kin, she debated what to do. Leave it blank and risk Arthur thinking that she wasn’t fully committed, or revealing that she didn’t have any family left? It was still sometimes hard to admit it to herself, but she ultimately wrote “orphan” on the bag.

An hour or so later, a boy walked into the room and collected all of the body bags. He was wearing sweat pants and a t-shirt, and was clearly enjoying not being in their shoes. As he made his way around the room, Blair watched him. As he stopped at Andrew’s bed, she noticed him give Andrew a nudge and a smile. It seemed like they knew each other, and Andrew visibility relaxed in his presence. Maybe that was his sponsor? He quickly turned his attention away from him, figuring that he probably shouldn’t be seen giving any differential treatment, even if it was only a friendly nudge, to any of the competitors. His eyes locked in on Blair, and he grinned at her as he walked over. She didn’t even know the guy, but his calming presence worked on her as well.

“Heya love, name’s Eggsy. May I have your bag?” _So this is Eggsy._ Blair grabbed her bag and handed it over to him. He smiled as if saying thanks, and glanced around the room, making sure he had all of the bags. Once he decided that he had grabbed them all, he and whispered, “hope to be seein’ you around again.” He backed away towards the door, opened it while trying to balance all of the bags, and then when he was sure he wouldn’t drop them, winked so only Blair could see, and left. She let herself smile just ever so slightly, and knew instantly why Roxy was friends with him: he was likeable ( _and attractive... Blair, stop, that’s not why you’re here_ ).

Blair thought back to him going around the room and came to the conclusion that he only really talked to and noticed Andrew and herself. She felt like it was a good sign, having one of the other Kingsman noticing her. She wanted to prove to them that she could do this, and she needed to prove it to herself.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is chapter 3! If you have any ideas for types of tests for the recruits to go to, please send them in! Either on here or at kingsman-recruits.tumblr.com. As always, I hope you all enjoy it and feedback is greatly appreciated!

“Roxy... Roxy... Rox! Oi Rox! Turn around!” Eggsy, still carrying one of the body bags, raced down the corridor, hoping to catch up to Roxy before going to Arthur. “Would ya slow down a bit?” He had finally got close enough to her to the point where he could reach out and grab her wrist.

“Eggsy? Sorry, sorry, my mind has been wandering. What has gotten you so riled up?” Her friend looked completely flustered, and he was building up a bit of a sweat. “Why are you so sweaty?” He reached up to touch his head, felt the dampness, and shook his head.

“I’ve been runnin’ all over this place, didn’t know I was sweatin’ though.” Roxy gave him a questioning look, and Eggsy just shrugged. “I like sprintin’ past the recruits’ room, because if they hear me, it’ll make ‘em think that something big is happenin’. When I went in there earlier, I got a Charlie-vibe from most of the lot, and now I just wanna mess with ‘em.” Roxy laughed and bumped her shoulder into him as they continued walking. He laughed with her before continuing, “Plus, I was lookin’ at all the bags, just to make sure everyone filled theirs out, and I noticed somethin’. That Blair girl, I’m guessin’ she was your choice, wrote that she was an orphan?” When Roxy only nodded her head, he prodded her more. “Well... what’s her story?”

“You’ll actually find out in a few minutes if you come with me. Arthur has asked me to come down and talk to him about her. I don’t know what he wants exactly, but I’m sure her story will come up. How did you know she was my pick?” Eggsy shrugged again.

“Dunno, she just looked like someone you would pick. Where did you find her?”

“I saw her in the park this morning when I was picking up my coffee. I went up to her, because I recognized her from primary school. Went up and said hello, we caught up a bit, and she had mentioned that she had a job interview in that part of town right before I saw her. She missed the interview because of all of the clean-up, and I suggested that she come ‘interview’ here.”

“So you actually know her?” Eggsy asked as he opened the door to Arthur’s control center.

“Yeah, we were sort of friends, but there was an incident, and a few months after that, she moved to the states. She’s only been back in London for a few days.” Arthur turned around to look at them when he heard their voices. The monitors behind him showed all different angles of the recruits’ room. Eggsy’s jaw dropped a bit when he saw the set up.

“Arthur, give the kids a bit of privacy, wouldn’t ya? Is this what it was like when we were in the testin’ phase? Jesus.” He really already knew the answer to that, but it still amazed him just how much was at Arthur’s disposal. Arthur looked over his shoulder and just nodded his head. When he turned back to the pair, his eye’s landed on the bag still in Eggsy’s hands. Eggsy watched him, and spoke up immediately. “I was goin’ through the bags like you wanted me to, and I saw that Blair Asher wrote ‘orphan’ on her bag. I thought you might wanna know about it.” He handed the bag over, and watched as Arthur turned it over in his hands.

“Roxy, this is exactly what I wanted to talk to you about. Eggsy, you should hear all of this too. What exactly do you know about this girl?” Roxy looked between her superior and her friend, and was suddenly afraid that her candidate could be ruled out before she even got started. She wasn’t aware of any rules that would require a candidate to leave on the basis of their background, but she was still nervous.

“Sir, Blair went to primary school with me. We were in the same friend group, but we didn’t really see each other outside of that group. At the beginning of Year 7, though, Blair’s whole immediate family was kidnapped individually. So her mom was taken by one member, her dad by another, and finally Blair by herself. They were missing for a week and a half, and two of the kidnappers were somehow able to get her mom and dad back into their family home after torturing them. Blair’s kidnapper was supposed to bring her to the house as well, but he was notified by the others that the house was completely surrounded and that he would be killed and Blair would be saved if he came back.

“So he ran, and took Blair with him. It was another couple of hours before the police were able to track him, and when they did, he led them on a chase. He took Blair with him and ran through the streets of London, trying to take the tube when he could to throw the police off his trail, but they caught up to him. It was on a platform that he decided to rid himself of Blair, as she was slowing him down. But instead of just letting her go, he pushed her onto the tracks, near the very end, just as a train was coming. Police divided into two groups: one to pursue him and another trying to get Blair out in time. It was a deep track though, and they couldn’t reach down to her. The conductor was trying to stop, but he didn’t have enough room. There are videos of the incident, and you can see Blair. She somehow managed to fit herself between the tracks in time. The train went right over her, and when it had come to a stop, everyone was afraid to look down. Police were immediately throwing themselves down there, and a minute later, she was being pulled up. She was unconscious, and covered in bruises and cuts, and it was impossible to determine what was caused by the beatings she went through and what was caused by the train.

“Both of her parents had been murdered as police were storming her house, and she was driven past her house as the ambulance made its way to the hospital. She... she saw her parents being taken out of the house. She was in the hospital for months, and when winter break came around, her grandmother moved her to the states. She has been there ever since.” It wasn’t until she took a deep breath at the end that she realized she had been holding her breath throughout the entire story and was close to tearing up. Eggsy was shell-shocked. He had been through the ringer before becoming a Kingsman agent, but the story Roxy just told was more than he could have ever imagined. While Eggsy was understandably shocked, Arthur looked as if this information was nothing he hadn’t already known.

“There’s more,” Arthur said. From his tone, neither Eggsy nor Roxy could determine if he was asking if there was more or if he was telling them that there was more.

“Sorry, what?” They both sighed at the same time. If they weren’t in this current position, Arthur may have allowed them a smirk. It was uncanny how in sync they were all of the time.

“There is more to the story. More that not even Blair herself knows.” Arthur motioned for the two to follow him to a filing cabinet in the corner of the room. As he opened the top drawer and started rummaging through the files, he elaborated. “Blair’s the daughter of Jonathon and Charlotte Asher. Johnathon was a Kingsman agent, and his wife worked for MI-6. As the two of you know, we rarely work with any other agencies, but this particular case required backup.” Finding the file labelled “Asher,” Arthur pulled it out and flipped it open to the first page, but before he could find what he was looking for, the door swung open. All three Kingsman agents whipped around and to see a massively fit man in a tracksuit.

“Shoot, is it that late already?” Arthur glanced at his watched and frowned. “Alright, Roxy, Eggsy, we’ll finish this discussion later. Jason, it’s good to see you. How was your flight?”

“Fine, Arthur. Are we ready to get started?” Jason huffed.

“In just a moment, yes. Jason, I want to introduce you to Eggsy Unwin and Roxy Morton. Roxy, Eggsy, this is Jason Cliff, the head of Kingsman US. He will be joining us to watch the American recruits’ final tasks. We are honored to have him, and we hope that these next few months will be a learning experience for us all.” Anyone that had been around Arthur for long enough knew that he was just as annoyed with the presence of the Americans as the rest of them were, but as the missions they were dealing with were becoming more global in nature, establishing good working relations with the US branch was incredibly important. At least that’s what Arthur kept telling himself.

Jason stubbornly stuck his hand out for Roxy and Eggsy to shake, and he smirked a bit when he looked Roxy up and down. “Female recruits, huh? Not something one comes across very often in this field of work.” Roxy’s mouth opened to form a response, but Eggsy beat her to it.

“That’s just the way things work around here, bruv. Best get used to it quick before Rox knocks your recruits on their arses in training.” Arthur hid his smirk by turning around to face the monitors.

“You better watch how you talk to me, boy. I do not tolerate this kind of behavior from my recruits.”

“It’s a good thing that I’m not one of your recruits, then, innit?” Eggsy squared back his shoulders and puffed out his chest – he was always ready for a fight when someone was insulting the people he cared about.

Arthur quickly hit some buttons and drew everyone’s attention away from the tension in the room by asking if everyone was ready. Jason reluctantly turned away from Eggsy and nodded his head. Roxy shook her head, and glanced up to see Eggsy smirking at the back of Jason’s head. She reached down and squeezed his hand. Eggsy looked down at her and smiled in return.

“Let’s head over to the observatory then.” With that, Arthur grabbed his clipboard and led the way to the two-way mirror that looked in to the recruits’ quarters. Eggsy felt a sense of pride as he remembered breaking the glass, saving everyone from having to continue breathing through loo snorkels, what seemed like forever ago. The mirror had been replaced since then, and Eggsy tensed up thinking about how Andrew would react. Arthur hadn’t specified how many new kids they were going to accept, but he wanted Andrew to be one of the next Kingsman. As Arthur pushed a red button that caused the room to begin filling with water, Eggsy’s eyes landed on the bed next to Andrew’s, and he found himself hoping that Blair would make it to the end as well.

Roxy was still holding his hand, and he felt her tense up when she saw Blair shoot up out of bed. He put his arm around his friend, and whispered that Blair was going to be alright. The water was rising quickly, and everyone in the room was panicking. Roxy’s mind kept shouting “Showerheads, Blair! Go for the showerheads!” She had never wished for people to have the ability to read minds as much as she did in the moment. A second later, she saw a boy point to the showerheads, and everyone began swimming over. _Thank god._ The water completely flooded the room now, and she watched as Blair raced over to the showers. Yanking the pipe off, she quickly unscrewed the showerhead and rammed the pipe into the toilet. A second later, she had an air supply, but she continued to frantically look around the room.

Arthur, Jason, Eggsy, and Roxy watched as Blair began counting the bodies at the toilets. As soon as she got to the number nine, she looked back over at the beds, and that’s when she saw someone floating in the water. She took a deep breath of air, shoved the pipe into Andrew’s hand, and then pushed off one of the shower poles. All of the boys turned to watch her when they noticed the body as well, but none of them went to assist her. Arthur watched as she noticed a bump in the flooring on her way to Ben’s body, but she didn’t stop. Grabbing the seemingly unconscious boy, she rotated onto her back, with him lying on top of her, and kicked her way back to the toilets. Andrew grabbed Ben’s body from her, as she took her pipe back from him and immediately put it into Ben’s mouth.

Blair motioned for Andrew to continue holding him and to make sure that he was getting air into him. Roxy watched as her recruit once again pushed off the shower pole, going back over to the odd spot of flooring. She had no idea what she was doing and prayed that Blair go back and get some air from one of the boys. Arthur smiled, though, as she approached the same spot as before. Blair propelled herself to the floor and began pulling at the tiles that were sticking up. The tiles were moving around a bit, but she wasn’t strong enough to get them up by herself. Soon, she saw another pair of hands pulling at the tiles, and when she looked up, she saw James. Blair pointed to a spot in the floor, and he nodded his head.

At that point, Roxy and Eggsy were as close to the glass as one could get. Their focus shifting between Ben, who was beginning to come around, and James and Blair pulling at tiles to no end. Suddenly, Arthur’s clipboard made a dinging sound, and as the two looked over at him, he just smiled and pointed back to the recruits. Blair and James were looking up towards the ceiling and when they noticed the water level falling, pushed themselves off of the ground into the air. Blair was gasping for breath, as she waited for the water level to go down enough so that she could run over to Andrew and Ben. That was the last thing the four Kingsman saw before Arthur directed them out of the room, around the corner, and into the dorm.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is chapter 4 of New Recruits! Once again, if anyone has any types of challenges they would like to see the recruits go through, please feel free to send them in. Thank you to everyone that has read New Recruits so far and sent in Kudos and all of that! It means a lot to me that there are actually people enjoying this as much as I am.

            Blair’s breathing was out of control, but she wasn’t focused on her breathing, rather on Ben’s. As soon as the water was low enough for her to walk through, she ran over to Ben and Andrew. Ben was sitting upright, which was a good sign, but his cough sounded awful. Blair checked his pulse just to see how he was really doing, and when she found that it hadn’t slow down at all, she sat down in front of him and began instructing him in some breathing exercises. Both recruits benefitted from it greatly, and they had calmed down by the time the door had opened.

            Blair shifted herself so that she was sitting on Ben’s side rather than directly in front of him. Arthur was the first to walk through the door, and he was closely followed by a man she did not recognize. Whoever he was, he didn’t looked thrilled at what had just happened. Eggsy and Roxy came in just behind him, and went to stand next to Arthur. Eggsy looked smug, and when he made eye contact with Blair, he brought his hands to the front of his body and quietly clapped for her. Blair felt her cheeks flush slightly, but she told herself it was the adrenaline and not Eggsy’s reaction to the situation.

            Afraid to make eye contact with him again, she looked over to Roxy, and Blair felt a surge of electricity run through her. Roxy looked so proud of her in that moment, and that was exactly what she had wanted. Roxy may have only been a few months older than Blair, but Blair already felt a deep connection to her wise mentor. She was the first female in Blair’s life for a long time that was a good role model, and Blair wanted to follow in her footsteps. She hadn’t actually seen Roxy in action yet, but she knew that she could kick ass when need be. Arthur was still looking down at his clipboard when Blair turned her attention to him. She always felt the need to straighten her posture around him, so she sat up a bit higher and waited for him to start talking. When he finally did look up, he looked directly at her.

            “Blair, well done. You are the first recruit to have ever found the source of the water and the first to have been able to reverse the flow before I had to. Your observation skills proved you well in that, and in realizing that one of your teammates was in danger.” His eyes shifted to direct his speech to the rest of the room. “Teamwork is one of the most important aspects of being a Kingsman, and if you cannot look out for the rest of your team, then you are not Kingsman material. Andrew and James, good on the two of you for assisting Blair and Ben when they needed it. Jack, good thinking when it came to finding an air supply. For those of you who are still confused, if you can get a pipe around the u-bend of a toilet, you have an unlimited air supply. Simple physics, worth remembering.” The man next to Arthur began eyeing the American boys and started to tap his foot. If one was looking directly at Arthur, they could see his eyes flicker down to the man’s foot and back up in a slight roll. Most weren’t watching him though.

            “To those of you who do not know who the man to my left is, let me introduce you. This is Jason Cliff, the head of the American branch. He has come to join us in the recruitment process and he will be assisting me in establishing good working relations between the UK and the US.” Blair took that moment to really look at the head of the American branch. He was buff, freakishly so, and was wearing a blue and white tracksuit that was one size too small. He wore a buzz cut and a scowl that looked to be permanently sketched on his face. Arthur looked over at him and asked him if there was anything he’d like to say.

            “Arthur, can I talk to my boys in private?” He breathed out. Every one of the Americans tensed up, and Blair knew that they wanted nothing to do with whatever talk he was planning.

            “Jason, I am sure whatever you have to say, can be said in front of the entire group.” Arthur was trying to keep his cool, but this guy was clearly testing his patience. Blair saw Eggsy blatantly roll his eyes and Roxy elbowed him in the side.

            “Then remember that I asked you first. Austin, Max, Nick, and James, you have embarrassed me. You have embarrassed the organization. You let a _girl_ figure out how to stop and reverse the flow of the water. You let some other guy figure out how to get access to air. What the hell did you guys do? Huh?! Nothing. You did fucking nothing. Only James ever attempted to do anything, and that was after the girl found the source. You _all_ need to step it up, or I will fucking send all of you home. Don’t think I won’t either. I swear if you all act like this one more time, I will crush your dreams of ever becoming a Kingsman. Do I make myself clear?” There was a collective “yes sir,” and Cliff took a step back. “Good. Arthur, continue.”

            The room was silent. Roxy was nearly being held back by Eggsy, who was also fuming, and Blair was dumbfounded. The Americans all kept their heads forward, but looked everywhere but at their leader. Even Arthur looked like he was ready to blow. A few more seconds past, and then Arthur slowly let out a sigh.

            “Obviously you all will not be sleeping here tonight, so if you’ll follow me, I will take you all to your new, more permanent, living quarters.” Arthur began to leave the room and was followed by Jason and his boys. They followed him closely behind and didn’t make a sound. Harry and Sean came over to where she and Ben were sitting and offered to help him to the new room. Ben was pulled up and as he was leaving, thanked Blair for saving him. That left Andrew and Blair to follow their sponsors out of the room. Andrew stood up first and helped Blair to her feet, before going and standing by Eggsy, who was trying to calm Roxy down.

            “Did he not see how she handled the situation? She saved them all, but it doesn’t matter because she’s a girl? I swear to god, I will not only beat the shit out of his recruits, but him as well. I don’t care that he’s taller and has easily a hundred pounds on me, I beat him without even touching him. My weapon scores are fantastic,” she nearly yelled after Cliff.

            “Rox, we’ll do somethin’ about him, alright, but right now, we gotta get these two into some dry clothes, yeah?”

            “Okay, Eggsy,” Roxy reluctantly said. “Blair, don’t worry about them, alright? You were fantastic in there, and that misogynistic prick is just afraid that all of his boys are going to be continuously outdone by a girl. Andrew, you did great as well, helping bring Ben back around.” Andrew looked down sheepishly, and said “thank you.”

            “Thanks, Roxy. I do feel bad for James though, he just got brutally yelled at, when he really did help. I couldn’t get the right amount of leverage by myself to get those tiles up. Without him, we might still be stuck in there. Hey, how did the two of you get out?”

            Eggsy pulled Andrew back with him so they were all walking next to each other. “Oh Blair, it was great. Rox was a genius and got us the air supply through the toilets.”

            “Yeah, but that wasn’t enough for Eggsy! He kept punching the two-way mirror until it shattered and sent us flying into the other room.” They both high-fived at the memory of it, and were so glad that they didn’t have to get out on their own again.

            “You fuckin’ broke the mirror, bruv?! Jesus. That is sick.” Andrew exclaimed. “I wanna do somethin’ mental like that.” Blair and Andrew hadn’t had a ton of time to talk, but she had never expected this kind of outburst from him.

            “Trust me, bruv, there is plenty of time to do something mental,” Eggsy laughed as they rounded the corner. Everyone was already in their new room, but Arthur and Cliff were engaged in a quiet argument outside the door.

            “Jason, you can’t berate them like that. They are still kids, for god’s sake. They are still learning, and they will learn more if you don’t terrorize them!” Arthur whispered. Cliff was about to refute that claim when they noticed Roxy, Eggsy, Blair, and Andrew walking towards them. “We will continue this conversation later, Jason.” Cliff started grumbling under his breath and stormed off.

            “Blair and Andrew, once again, job well done this evening. The two of you better get inside and out of those wet clothes before you both come down with something. Now is not the time for either one of you to be getting sick, and tomorrow is another day. Roxy, Eggsy, say your goodbyes.” With a curt nod, Arthur went off in the direction Cliff was headed in just a moment earlier.

            “Listen, the both of you. Keep your eyes and ears open, alright. Stay in the game,” and with that, Eggsy clapped Andrew on the shoulder, sent a smile Blair’s way, said goodnight to Roxy, and went back the way they had come. Andrew said goodnight to Roxy, and told Blair that he’d see her inside.

            “Eggsy’s right, you know? You have to keep your focus. Keep doing what you’re doing, and prove to Cliff that he’s wrong about you and our sex in general, alright?” Blair nodded her head vigorously and promised that she wouldn’t let her mentor down. “I know you won’t. Now you really need to get inside and out of those wet clothes. Arthur’s right too: tomorrow is another day. Get some sleep, okay?” It was then that Blair noticed just how exhausted she was. She said a final goodnight to her mentor, and went inside.

            She spotted Andrew and James as soon as she walked in and she saw that they had saved the bed right in between the two of them. They had already changed into their dry set of clothes, and Andrew held up a pair as she made her way over to them. She thanked him, and looked for a place to change away from everyone. She was so tired that she didn’t even see that this room actually had shower and toilet stalls and she sighed in content as she made her way over to one.

            After changing, she went right over to her bed, pulled back the covers, and slid in. In that moment, she realized just how important clean, dry sheets and pajamas were to her. She would never forget their value again, she vowed. As she made herself comfortable, Blair started to think over the events of the last 24 hours, and before she could get very far, she was fast asleep, dreaming of a blissful nothingness.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this one is a bit long and the beginning starts off a bit slow, but I promise that it'll get better. As always, feedback is greatly appreciated!

            “You are to treat her just as you would treat any of the other recruits. Now is not the time to tell her the full story. It would only distract her, and we cannot have that. Understood?” A few weeks had gone by rather uneventfully, but Arthur had been avoiding telling Eggsy and Roxy Blair’s full story. Now he had the pair of them sitting in his command center, at 6:45 in the morning, showing them the evidence that he had collected over the years on the kidnapping of Blair and her family, and her parents’ murderers. “Better get going then. Training is going to be starting soon, and you’ll need to set up your stations.”

            “Arthur, you act like we haven’t been doin’ this for the past two weeks. When are we gonna have them do some cool stuff? Like skydivin’? Come on Arthur, this lot would be so fun to watch skydive, and you know it. Just picture Austin. He’d be scared shitless.” Roxy rolled her eyes at him, but she secretly wanted the action to pick up as well. She knew that these few weeks were detrimental to the recruits’ training, after all, some of them had never shot a gun before and even fewer truly knew how to fight, but it got boring after a while, and she was itching for the next big event.

            “I’m sorry to disappoint you, Eggsy, but I don’t think we will be having them skydive for a test this time around. Don’t look at me like that, Eggsy, they will learn how to, but it’ll probably occur after we’ve picked our final recruits. No, I’ve been planning something even better, but I’m still putting the final touches on it. You’ll know soon enough.” Eggsy’s shoulders slumped in defeat and accepted that that was all he was going to get from Arthur today.

            “Sir, have you and Jason decided how many of the recruits will be accepted?” Roxy had been relatively silent throughout the morning’s discussion of Blair’s past, but this question had been bugging her since the very first night with the new kids.

            “Jason and I have finally come to a decision, yes. Jason will only be accepting one of the Americans to his branch, since they didn’t suffer as many losses as we did. UK HQ will be accepting two new recruits to fill out the department. Our numbers total are not horrible, but as you both know, you two are the only ones not currently on long-term cases, and I guarantee things will start to get more chaotic soon. The more recruits I have here, the easier all of our jobs will be.” Arthur didn’t need to justify his decision to the two of them, and they tried to keep their excitement at bay. This meant that both Blair _and_ Andrew had a possibility of joining them, and they could finally stop secretly hoping that their friend’s recruit will stumble a bit.

            “Yes, Arthur! Good lad!” Eggsy clapped him on the shoulder, but removed his hand as soon as Arthur glared at him. “Sorry.”

            “It’s fine, Eggsy, now really, you two need to get going,” he said as he basically pushed them out of his office. “I’ll be down in a little bit to watch their progress in person.” Eggsy and Roxy started walking down to the training center quickly, before Roxy stopped dead in the hallway. 

            “Shoot, I left my gloves in my room. I’ll meet you down there, yeah?” She didn’t wait for a reply as she began running in the opposite direction. Eggsy chuckled and wondered when she was just going to leave her gloves with the rest of her equipment in the locker room. He could almost hear her excuse as he opened one door and then another: “But Eggsy, these gloves were made special for me. The rest of the equipment is all standard, but these were designed for me, so they will stay with me.”

            Training was supposed to not start for another 30 minutes, but Arthur always likes them to go down early, set everything up, and practice with each other for a few minutes, so they could warm up a bit. The recruits always walked in as if they have been up for a while, making themselves presentable, but Eggsy knew that most of them slept in a clean pair of workout clothes so they could roll directly out of bed and into the training center. As he opened the last door that would lead him down a tunnel and into the center, he heard the soft pattering of feet on the track that encompassed the room. He walked in slowly, and placed his right thumb on the back of his signet ring in case it was someone that shouldn’t be there, even though he thought that was highly unlikely. He nearly laughed at his paranoia when he saw who it was.

            Blair, with a pair of earbuds in, was sprinting around the track. She hadn’t noticed him come in yet, so he carefully maneuvered himself into a corner where he wouldn’t distract her from her personal training. After a few more laps around the track, Eggsy could tell that she was nearly finished as she glanced at her watch, checked her pulse, and began to slow down. He got the feeling that this was something she did pretty often, but he had never seen her in here before the rest of the recruits joined Roxy and himself. She was finally at a walking pace, so he left his corner and jogged out to catch up with her. He made his entrance pretty obvious as to not scare her and have her use some of the moves Roxy has been teaching her on him. When Blair saw him, she pulled her earbuds out and said “good morning.”

            “What are you doin’ here so early?” Eggsy asked her as she sat down on the ground to stretch.

            She looked around almost guiltily before replying, “Arthur said I could come and use the center before and after group training if I wanted to. I thought that was okay?”

            “Oh, I didn’t mean to make it sound like you weren’t allowed to... of – of course you are. I’m just surprised, is all. It’s just that I’ve never seen you in here before trainin’, and you never look like you’ve just been sprintin’ around the track.”

            “I accidently slept in a bit this morning,” she explained. “Usually, I’m out of here 40 minutes before training starts so I can grab something to eat and take a bit of a break. Gives me time to cool off and get ready for the day.” If she normally ate after her runs, Eggsy became concerned at the thought of her not eating and passing out during training. Honestly, the amount of concerned he had for Blair freaked him out. He asked if she wanted him to go and grab her something from the stash of food he kept in his locker and was already on his feet when she said that she made sure to eat before she came down here. “Thanks though.”

            “Yeah, yeah, no problem. Well, I uh, I’ve gotta set up for you lot or Arthur will kill me.” Eggsy tried to excuse himself before he started to get that stupid feeling in his gut that he noticed came around whenever he was feeling flustered.

            “Do you need any help?” Blair questioned, getting to her feet in case he said yes.

            “No, no, that’s alright... I-” Eggsy was cut off by Roxy running into the door, panting. “Wha’s gotten into you?” He asked, sending Roxy a confused, but obviously amused look.

            “Shut it. Someone, and when I say someone, I really mean you, moved my gloves! Into the locker room, actually. So I went all the way back to my room, when I could have just picked them up on my way over here? You’re still not winning, I hope you know. Even with this, it’s 23-21. The war is still mine, Eggy,” Roxy smirked, and then laughed when she saw the look of disgust on Eggsy’s face when he heard Charlie’s nickname for him.

            Blair, completely confused by the situation, offered to help Roxy in setting up her area. The pair walked away from Eggsy’s side of the center and Blair asked Roxy what all of that was about. “After V-Day, things got a bit boring around here. The whole world was working on fixing itself, and a lot of the people we would normally have to deal with were killed. It really didn’t help that a lot of the drug dealers and murderers were already surrounded by killers. So Eggsy and I started to mess with each other. Little things most of the time, switching each other’s uniforms with discarded prototypes that Arthur was working on, as there was always some sort of glitch, causing excessive itching, your skin turning the color of the suit, or something else minor. That kind of thing. Eggsy tried to do some sort of prank on a grander scale, but Arthur caught him and threatened to send to Siberia. That ended that.”

            “What was the big prank?” Blair asked as she helped Roxy create the barriers of the boxing ring.

            “Oh, I don’t even know. Eggsy won’t tell in case he gets to use it sometime in the future. I swear, sometimes that boy...” she trailed off as Eggsy yelled out “you know ya love me, Rox! Just admit it, won’t you?” earning a laugh for the girls. Roxy glanced at her watch, seeing that the rest of the recruits would be there in a few minutes. “You better head into the locker room if you don’t want them to see you.” Blair looked up at her mentor with a confused look on her face. “Blair, I knew all about you’re sneaking out of the dorm every morning to come down here and train. And you’re sneaking back into the dorm, pretending that you have just gotten up with the rest of them. It’s a good strategy, I think. You’re getting in extra training and you’re warmed up before they have even woken up. You perform better than all of them first thing. They catch up in an hour or so, but for that first hour, you get to show off. And then because they are starting to catch up, you push yourself harder, constantly besting them. I admire it, and they are annoyed by it. Just make sure you’re getting enough rest, alright?”

            Blair shouldn’t have been surprised, Roxy seemed to know everything that was going on. She assured her mentor that she was getting enough rest, although, she wasn’t entirely convinced herself. Since learning of the Kingsman, she wanted nothing more than to be a part of them. Roxy and Eggsy had embraced her, and she felt like they were a bit of a family. She hadn’t had a family in a long time, and so she clung to this opportunity. She had to have it. So, she focused all of her energy into being the best. Her competition was stiff, Austin and Jack, especially, were always trying to distract and intimidate her. And then there was always Cliff. Arthur had finally allowed Cliff to have private conversations with the Americans, trying to spare Blair of all of the US head’s slander, but it always got back to her somehow. Usually through a reluctant James telling her. Blair was determined to use it as motivation though.

            Blair helped Roxy move one more of the boxing dummies before running into the locker room. Checking the time, she decided that she had enough time to quickly wash her face and use the restroom. At 7:29, she walked back out of the locker room, and onto the makeshift field. Harry, Ben, Sean, and Nick were already there, standing in their usual spots. She said good morning to them and received a bunch of grunts in return. That’s the best she could hope for this early in the morning. She took her place at the far end of the line forming and waited for Andrew and James to join her. She was greeted by James first, and he asked her where she had been that morning.

            “I, uh, woke up a bit early and felt quite restless, so I just went for a walk through the mansion before heading down here.” He nodded and she sighed quietly. Andrew joined them a second later and looked exhausted, at least, he looked slightly more exhausted than the rest of them. “You alright, Andrew?”

            “Dunno really. I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck. I’m sure it’s just from trainin’. I’ll be fine.” Blair reached down to squeeze his hand and gave her a weak smile. “Really, I’ll be fine.”

            “Mornin’ everybody. First things first, remember that Arthur and Cliff will be coming to observe your skills at the end of this mornin’s session and at the end of the evenin’ session. If you fail to impress ‘em, you will be asked to leave. Alright, so if you started yesterday out with Roxy, you’ll be with me first. If that group doesn’t include you, then go over to Roxy. Let’s get started.” Eggsy started waiving people over to his side of the track and that included Blair, Austin, Nick, Max, and Harry. Every day for the past week and a half, this had been her training group, and she couldn’t stand it. Harry was fine, but he wasn’t much of a talker. That didn’t stop them in pairing up whenever they could, though. It was better than being with people that couldn’t stand them. Eggsy was forced to rotate them all though, to make sure that they all fought against each other’s fighting styles.

            Eggsy’s side was focused more on fighting with weapons, whereas Roxy taught them how to fight with only their bodies. All of the weapons on Eggsy’s side were fake in some way. The knives they used were the ones used on movie sets, so the blade retracted into the handle when pushed against something. The guns had real Kingsman exteriors, but shot paintballs instead of actual bullets. Getting hit with one of those still definitely left its mark.

            “Alright, let’s start with Austin and Harry. Boys, choice your weapon.” Harry may have been absolutely terrified of Austin, but he held his own. He definitely had stronger knife skills than Austin, so if he could avoid getting kit by Austin’s constant paintball fire, he could get a few slashes in. Blair watched as Eggsy rotated partners endlessly, and whenever she found herself paired up, she tried both weapons, constantly switching between the two. She wanted to make sure that in these last few practice rounds, she could utilize them both as best as she could. Eggsy would occasionally offer a suggestion like: “flick your wrist up when coming in from that angle” or “focus on your kill shots, Blair. Some of these guys you want dead, not just wounded,” she make sure to make the corrections as soon as possible.

            She definitely found herself leaning towards the gun rather than the knife. She liked to believe that if she were to become a Kingsman, she could still complete her missions without getting close enough to the target that they could get her before she could get them. They rotated through the pairs another two times before Eggsy had them stop.

            “You’ve got 10 minutes before Arthur and Cliff get here. Grab some water and pull yourselves together. They will be watchin’ you all first. I’ll be right back.” Blair grabbed her water from the cooler they kept near all of the equipment and found a space farther away from everyone to stretch and focus. She must have only had two minutes of quiet before she heard footsteps coming towards her. Looking up, she wished she hadn’t. It was Austin.

            “I hope they put us up against each other, Blair. And we should go first if possible. I think we’d be a good match.” Blair kept her eyes on an object past his head, refusing to really look at him. “Want to know why I think we’d be a good match, Blair? Come on, take a guess.”

            She decided to humor him. “Why would _we_ be a good match? I don’t know, Austin. Please enlighten me.” When he heard her slightly mocking, but falsely innocent tone, he crouched down on his knees and glared at her.

            “Because it’ll finally give us the opportunity to go up against each other without holding back. And since we will actually be encouraged to really fight, I will finally get to end up. And with your mentor watching and everything. You don’t belong here, Blair, and none of them see it yet. But I will make them see it.” His face had gradually gotten closer as he threatened her more and more. Blair pushed herself up as she saw Arthur walk in behind Austin, forcing his body away from her.

            “Good luck, Austin,” was all she said, infuriating him even more. As soon as she walked past him though, her face faltered. She knew he wasn’t kidding. He had been sending her looks ever since the water incident, and she knew if they faced each other, he’d follow through on his threat.

            “Gather round, everyone, please.” Arthur called out. “As you all know, today is your last day of combat training, and therefore, we will be watching you compete against each other. The way this will work is that you will all compete in four fights today, and we will try to pair you off against the other four members of your groups, so there shouldn’t be any repeated pairs. Two of those will be fighting with weapons, and two of those will be fighting without weapons. Jason and I have made the pairs and as I said, as of right now, none of you will be fighting the same person twice. However, the pairs will be adjusted due to knockouts as needed. We will determine who gets sent home by an order of the number of fights you have won. Those in the bottom two will be sent home immediately after tonight’s final round.”

            “All of you will watch each fight, and you need to learn from each other’s mistakes,” Jason went on. Since being allowed to have his own conversations with the Americans, he had become much calmer in the full group setting. “We will be starting off with Eggsy’s morning group. Our first fight will be between Austin and Nick. The rest of you, sit down over there. Nick, you will be using a gun in this fight, meaning that Austin will have the knife.” Blair felt incredibly relived to have not been called up with Austin. There were still plenty of opportunities, but she had to take it one fight at a time.

            Blair watched the fights in a daze. Austin won his match against Nick and Harry won against Nick in a back to back match. Blair was finally called up to face Max, and she considered herself lucky again. In this fight, she was given the gun and Max the knife. They had a maximum of five minutes to battle amongst themselves, or until one of them was pinned down or given a kill shot first. If the match ended at the five minute mark and neither were “killed” in the fight, they would be awarded a tie.

            Blair knew from watching Max that he liked to make jerky lunges towards his opponent whenever he had a knife. Nothing was very fluid, so if one was paying close enough attention to his body movements, they could predict where he would swing next. Blair used that to her advantage and tired him out by drawing in close to him and drawing back out as soon as he was about to make a cut. Within the first two minutes, she made her kill shot. It happened as Max had spun around after throwing his body with too much force. As soon as the side of his head was exposed, she made the pull. A blue paintball splatter against his head and he fell to the ground. It wasn’t the first time anyone had been hit in the head by one of those things, but every time it happened, everyone in the room cringed. When Max was able to stand, Blair went over to shake his hand and apologize for the location of the shot, but Max pulled away before she got the chance. This was not a good way to establish relations between the US and UK.

             With Blair winning her first match, she want to sit down next to Harry, only to have him called up next to fight. Max was given barely any time to recover as he found himself up against Harry. Blair knew that that meant that there were only two people in her group who hadn’t gone up twice: Austin and herself. Austin sent her a looked that could kill when he realized it too. And since Austin had the knife before and she had competed with the gun already, she was going up against him with her weaker weapon. She never wanted Harry and Max’s fight to end, but it did with Max redeeming himself.

             “Next up, we have Blair and Austin,” announced Cliff. Blair searched for Roxy and found her already watching Blair intently. She gave her a quick thumbs up, but she looked a bit nervous as well. Austin was easily the biggest recruit and probably the toughest as well. As they picked up their weapons and shook hands, Blair found herself shaking. As she turned from him and walked to her side of the massive ring, she forced herself to take multiple deep breaths to calm herself. They didn’t help.

            With the ding of the automatic clock, Blair began to step along the outline of the ring. Austin followed her movements and sneered as he sent her a warning shot near her foot. She didn’t let it spook her as she knew he was hoping it would. He had done this to opponents before: sending warning shots and then making the kill shot as his opponent leaped out of the way of the first. Blair knew that the only way she was going to make the kill was to get closer to him, so she started walking in a diagonal line, hoping to push him back into the cut-off boundary. He sent paintballs through the air, and Blair sent herself spinning towards him in a series of dives turned barrel rolls. She felt her the skin of her legs being grazed by paint bullets, but he hadn’t made the kill shot. The clock was ticking down and they were playing a game of tag.

            Blair had gotten some fake cuts onto his clothing, marked with a special red dye that the blade pushed out as it retracted into the handle, but she couldn’t get close enough to him. Suddenly, Austin sent out a shot that was headed right for her head, but she moved a fraction of an inch, allowing it to sail by and she raced towards him. She knocked his leg out from under him, causing him to go down. As she picked herself off the floor, she noticed that his weapon was on the floor next to him. This was her only shot, and she took it. She dove in his direction, landing on top of him, and as she swung her blade, she noticed that he had just grabbed his gun by the barrel and was swinging it in her direction. She had no time to react, hoping that her blade would make it to his heart before his gun made it to her. That was the last thing she remembered.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 6, here we go! Hope you all enjoy it!

When Blair woke up, she was lying on the ground and her head was throbbing. More specifically, her nose was throbbing. She reached her hand up to her nose, and when she drew it back, it was covered in blood. Roxy and Eggsy had made it to her first, but were pushed out of the way by Arthur and Cliff. Arthur was yelling for the nurse and Blair was wishing that he would lower his voice. She tried to push herself up to sit forward, but nearly fell backwards. She was caught by Eggsy, and he slowly helped her to her feet.

“I want to walk,” Blair heard herself say. Eggsy wrapped his arm around her waist as Roxy took her other arm to balance her. She heard Arthur call the match in Austin’s favor, and called for their lunch break, plus an extra hour for them all to gather their strength before the next training session.

Luckily, the nurse’s office was not far away from the training center. As they made their way inside, Roxy and Eggsy steered Blair to the side of the room with the bed, helped Blair up and were, once again, pushed out of the way by a nurse. Blair was going in and out of consciousness, but she heard “broken nose,” and then passed out from the pain. She awoke a short time later, and only Arthur was in the room. When he heard her bed sheets rustling with her movement, he put his clipboard down on his chair and walked over to her bed.

“How are you holding up there, Blair?” She had to think about it for a second, allowing the pain to register. Her hand made its way back up to her nose, and she felt a few bandages, but no more blood. She felt a bit dizzy, but she figured it was from whatever medication she was put on. Her head was still throbbing, but she wouldn’t let him know that.

“Arthur, please, please let me fight. I can do it, I swear to you. Please, don’t... don’t cut me out.” She grabbed onto his arm as she begged. “I’m okay, I can do this. Please.” She was near tears, and Arthur felt for the girl.

“Blair, you were pretty knocked down pretty hard back there. The nurse says you have a slight concussion and Austin broke your nose, are you sure you want to go back out there? You fought valiantly, Blair. You stepping down because of this would be a respected move.” Arthur tried to reason with the girl. He always had his favorites when it came to new recruits, and Blair was definitely one of them, but he didn’t want to see her get even more hurt.

“Arthur, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I stepped down. Please, I can do it. Let me back out there. I swear, I will make you proud.” _Blair, you already have,_ Arthur thought to himself. She reminded him a lot of her father in that moment, and when he saw Jonathon’s eyes looking at him through Blair, he knew that he needed to let her do this.

“Alright, Blair, I’ll let you compete. But you are to stay in here during the first half of the second training session and rest. You missing training for this will not count against you. Additionally, you have to get some food into your system before you go back out there.” He watched as Blair nodded and knew that she was fighting back tears the shaking had caused her head. “Training is about to start, and I need to go and let Roxy know that you’ll be back. I’ll have the nurse bring you some food. You’re sure you want to do this?”

“Absolutely. Thank you, Arthur. Thank you. Can I ask you for one more thing?”

“Anything.” She whispered her request, and he had to smile when she completed it. _Just like her father._ “I’ll see what I can do,” he said as he stood up, making his way out of the room. “I’ll come and get you when the time comes.” She thanked him for everything, and rested her head against the pillow, willing herself to heal faster.

During the next hour and a half, Blair had eaten food and was able to keep it down despite the nausea. When her nursed learned that she had decided to fight, there was nothing she could do to stop it. She had seen enough injuries and concussions from the Kingsman to know that Blair wasn’t in any traumatic danger, but she wished she wouldn’t give herself up to the opportunity of being injured again so quickly. Using her saddest pout, Blair convinced her nurse to allow her out of bed to stretch and run some jabbing exercises. She could feel herself getting tired much more quickly, and she knew that if she was going to win her next two matches, which she would have to in order to stick around, she’d have to pin her opponents down as quickly as possible.

Arthur found her on the floor, tired from her exercises and not willing to exert more energy lifting herself up into her bed. “Are you sure you want to go through with this?”

“Nothing can change my mind, Arthur. I have to do this.” She allowed herself to be helped up slowly, and she followed him out of the room after checking her vitals with the nurse. As soon as they made it to the doors of the tunnel, she saw Roxy waiting for her. When Roxy saw her, she ran over and nearly tackled the girl in a hug before thinking better of it. Roxy gently pulled her recruit towards her, examining her nose. When she was content with the bandaging, she pulled back, and look at the rest of her. It was going to be tough, she realized, for Blair to come back from this, but she was proud that she wasn’t going to let a broken nose stop her.

“Blair, you can do this. The second half of training is about to start, and I want you to stick with me as your partner, or use the boxing dummies. You are not to fight anyone else until the final two rounds, alright? I can’t let anything else happen to you before you make your comeback. Now, let’s do this.” Roxy gently pushed Blair in ahead of her, letting her enter the tunnel first.

Roxy and Arthur followed at a respectable distance, giving Blair her moment. As Blair reached the end of the tunnel, she made eye contact with Eggsy. She didn’t know if he knew that she was going to come back, and it felt like he was waiting for her. He dropped what he was doing when he knew that she was coming back to fight and started to clap for her. Suddenly, everyone’s eyes were on her, and almost all of them were clapping for her. Andrew and James ran up to her, asking how she was feeling. Blair put on a brave face and told them that she was doing alright. Jack, Harry, Ben, and Sean all approached her as well, saying that they couldn’t believe she was back and went on about how they all wanted to kill Austin. Sean said that after she left, a fight nearly broke out between the two branches and was only pulled apart by Cliff shooting them all with paintballs. Ben said that Cliff nearly lost it after Austin hit her. Apparently he hated her only when she was beating his boys, but by doing that kind of damage to her, Austin had crossed a line in Cliff’s eyes.

Arthur brought the attention of the group back to himself by announcing that the break was over. Eggsy looked like he was about to come over and talk to her, but sent her an apologetic look when he had to get back to his group. Blair followed Roxy over to the rest of her group. Harry stuck close to her side, and in that moment, Blair no longer cared that he wasn’t much of a talker, because there he was, daring someone to start something.

“Focus people. Pair up: Nick and Austin, Harry and Max, and Blair with me. Evasive maneuvers, go.” Blair squared herself up with Roxy, who then told her to work on her jabs. Roxy knew that Blair needed to be quick in these next few rounds if she was going to make it, so she had her work on her punches. “Alright, Blair,” she whispered, “how are your evasives? You’re going to need to protect your head and nose at all costs, so I want you to practice everything we’ve been doing, but with more focus on what’s going to keep your head away from the hands of your opponent.”

“I should be able to do my backflip kick and I think I can roll if I move my arms up a bit.” She continued to throw punches at Roxy for a few more minutes before Roxy had to correct the technique of the others. Blair then practiced with the dummy and worked on her rolls, first over on the safety mats and then on the actual floor. She felt alright, but needed to excuse herself to the locker room to wipe some blood off her face. Looking at herself in the mirror, she realized how awful she looked and how bad she actually felt. She was covered in bruises and her shirt was covered in blood, as she had forgotten to change. She looked scary, she had to admit. And a bit sickly. She knew that if she made it through this round that they were to be given at least a day off from any training, and she could focus on regaining her strength then.

Walking back to the floor, she saw Arthur watching her closely, after deciding that he should stick around during practice in case something should happen to her. She had time to run through a few more drills before Cliff arrived and joined Arthur back on the floor. By Cliff’s expression, he had not known that Blair had returned either. He made his way over to her, shook her hand, and personally apologized for his behavior towards her and Austin’s. After wishing her good luck, he went to stand by Arthur as they announced which pair of Eggsy’s new group would be the first to go against each other. Blair watched carefully, observing their successes and mistakes, and rooting for Andrew and James to win their matches. She was grateful for the downtime, as it gave her time to recuperate.

That time was over soon enough though, and Blair was called up in the first fight. This time, she was to fight Nick, and he underestimated her. He went to the cheap shots to her face, but she was able to dodge every single one of them. He was beginning to get frustrated, and that’s when Blair began to fight back instead of just dodging. She got him in his stomach first, hard enough to knock the air out of his lungs, giving her a brief second to knee him in the groin, bringing him down in agony. She quickly threw herself onto his back, hitting her head when he threw up his elbow trying to push her off. She winced and felt more blood rushing, but continued to hold him down. Arthur called the fight in her favor and she was thrown a towel by Roxy. She held it to her nose gently as she went to shake hands with Nick. He limped down the line to where he was sitting previously, clearly still in pain. _Deserves it for taking the cheap shots_ , Blair told herself.

She watched as Harry lost his third match and just barely won his fourth. Max lost his fourth match to Austin’s third, and soon they were down to their final calling. As Arthur called out the final match, Blair smiled knowing that her wish to have a rematch against Austin had been granted. As Arthur called out his and Blair’s name, it was clear that by Austin’s confused expression that he hadn’t been keeping track of who had gone all four times. Blair went up to shake his hand, and this time, she looked him dead in the eyes. She would not let him think that she was afraid this time. She had nothing to lose. As she let go of his hand, his hold on her wrist tightened. He pulled her closer to him so that she was the only one to hear his threat: “Don’t worry, Blair, this will all be over soon.”

When he finally let go, she squared her shoulders and walked to her side. As she turned to face him, she let everyone else fall away in her vision. There was only Austin and herself, as far as she was concerned. When the clock started, Austin skipped circling the ring, and ran right for her with his head in a ramming position. She jumped out of the way, but left her foot in his way. He avoided it only with a second to spare and lost his balance. Blair ran towards him and let him throw the first punch.

She blocked it and threw a punch of her own at his cheek. Her hand made contact and he stumbled backwards. She continued to advance towards him, and felt his hand graze her shoulder. Refusing to fall backwards, she redirected her momentum and flung herself into him. She threw punch after punch into his stomach, and when he leaned forward, she redirected her anger towards his face. It only took two punches to his face before he was on the floor and she had his arms pinned back. Arthur called it for her and she tried to get up before Austin attempted to throw her to the ground. Cliff, Eggsy, and Roxy were all there and threw him to the side. Eggsy started yelling and with his accent, it was completely incoherent. He nearly ended Austin when he tried to take a swing at Eggsy.

“You fucking bitch! I knocked you out in the first session! You don’t belong here! You don’t deserve to be here! You should be gone!” Austin screamed, trying to push his way past Eggsy. Andrew and James stood in from of Blair to protect her, giving her the opportunity to look at the damage she had caused. There were a few nice bruises forming, and she nicked him good on his cheek where blood was pooling. She honestly couldn’t believe that he had gone down as quickly as he did, but she was grateful, because she had put everything into the punches thrown at him and she was exhausted.

“Enough!” Cliff screamed, shutting everyone up. “That is enough, Austin. Eggsy is one of your superiors and Blair won that round. You had no right to continue the fight after it was called, and if you wanna stick around, you better pull your shit together.” After moving Austin away from the group and feeling confident enough in that he wasn’t going to retaliate again, Cliff and Arthur separated themselves from the recruits to discuss who was going to be sent home. Eggsy, still glaring at Austin, walked over to where Blair had sat down with her towel up to her nose.

“You were incredible. I’ve never seen someone come back like that. Ever. How are you feelin’?” He asked, taking the towel from Blair and cleaning up the spots she missed.

“Thanks,” she whispered. “I feel a little bit dizzy, to be honest.” The room and everything in it was spinning, but she didn’t want anyone to know how bad it was. At least not here.

“Here, lie down on your side. Andrew, grab Blair’s water for me,” he called out. “Thanks, bruv. Here, drink somethin’.” He cradled her head as she took a sip. “I can’t believe you took him down like that. Jesus.” They sat in the quiet like that, Blair’s head cradled in Eggsy’s lap, until Arthur and Cliff came back over. He helped her sit upright again, and when she indicated that the dizziness was going away, Andrew helped her stand up while Eggsy went to stand with Roxy, Arthur, and Cliff.

“You all fought well today, excluding a few incidents.” Everyone but Nick and Max glanced over at Austin who was tending to the cut on his face. “Unfortunately, two of you are going home. The two people that we call up, please know how impressed we were with your efforts, but they just weren’t up to Kingsman.” Taking a deep breath, Arthur continued: “Ben and Sean, it’s time for you both to go home.” The two stepped forward to shake Arthur and Cliff’s hands, and after that, they were ushered out a back exit. There was no time to say goodbye.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We finally get all of Blair's family background in this - I hope you guys like it!

_She had been dropped in the middle of nowhere, and yet it all looked so familiar. She was on a dirt road, and there was not a single car around her. She started walking, picking a random direction until she saw a light in the distance. Immediately, she was drawn to it. Walking a bit farther down the road, she found the drive way leading up to the house. It zigzagged across the front of the property and had vegetation spilling into it. As she got closer and closer to the house, she could make out more in the details. It was a simple country house, with a walk-a-round porch and a giant front door that had been painted red not too long ago. Wanting to observe the house without being seen, she hid behind a tree in the front lawn that accommodated a rope swing. That’s when she started to remember._

_Glancing around the tree, she found what she was looking for, but was hoping she wouldn’t find. In the backyard, there was a big red barn that had started to dilapidate. She tried to turn around and run, but her feet took her forward instead of back towards the road. She couldn’t stop herself from walking across the massive backyard and to the front of the barn. Looking around her quickly, she thought the coast was clear, so she pushed open the door and stepped inside. It was just as dark and dingy as she had remembered it. There were no animals in the barn anymore, but old farming equipment and mismatched items filled its hallowedness._

_She was drawn to the back of the barn – it looked so familiar, like a dream she had once had. Walking back to the last horse stall, she gently pushed back the door. It looked empty in the darkness, but as she edged her feet into the stall, she heard hay rustle. A closer look revealed a man in a mask, sleeping. She thought she could get away before he woke up, but as she slid her feet backwards, she tripped on an old pipe, and the noise woke the sleeping man. She stayed as still as possible hoping that he’d fall right back asleep, but the hay continued to rustle and she knew she had been caught. Attempting to turn and run from the masked man, she made it to the door as his laughter rang out._

_“Ah ah ah, Ms. Asher, you know I haven’t finished asking you questions yet. There’s no way for you to escape,” and sure enough, the barn door had locked them in. She banged her fists against it anyways, hoping that there was someone out there that would come rescue her, but no one came. Blair felt the man grab a fist full of hair and yank her backwards. She screamed in terror, trying to kick the man away. “If only you would just answer my questions, then I wouldn’t have to hurt you.” She felt a rope being tied around her wrist and then her feet. The ties had been done by someone well trained and she was unable to free herself. Her next best option was to put as much space between the two of them as possible, so she tried to inch her way backwards and towards a hole in the wall._

_“Blair, come on now,” he said, dragging her back to him. “You can make this so easy for the both of us. Now, I just need you to tell me who your parents work for and why they were in Brazil are few months ago.”_

_“Please, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” She screamed. He began to stand above her, placing his foot on the side of her face and pushing it into the dirt. “I swear, I don’t know what you’re on about! My dad is a tailor and my mum works at the Bank of England. And they didn’t go to Brazil, they went to visit my sick aunt in Edinburgh! They haven’t done anything wrong. Please. Let me go back to them!” Blair wailed as the man’s heel digged farther into her face. “Please! Stop! You’re hurting me!”_

_“God damn it, Blair! I know you’re fuckin’ lying to my face! I will kill you and your whole family if you don’t tell me what the fuck is going on!” He took his foot off of Blair, revealing a boot-shaped indent. The man leaned down, grabbed her face and forced her to look at him. “You’ll fuckin’ die tonight, I swear it.” He began mumbling and Blair only picked up on the word “mask.” She kept her eyes on him as he lifted the mask off, and that’s when she saw Austin’s eyes burning into her. Screaming, she saw him grab his pistol, flip it backwards, and she felt cold metal drag across her face._

Blair woke up screaming in the middle of the night. She was drenched in sweat and didn’t know where she was. She tried to free herself from her sheets, but got tangled and fell to the ground. She was on all fours when she heard the door fling open and a woman in all white rushed over to her. She tried to push the stranger away, but as the woman began whispering to her, she could have sworn she heard the names Arthur and Roxy before she began to cry.

Her thoughts came as fast as her tears fell - the mansion, Austin, Kingsman... family. Everything was coming back to her now. She was safe, at least, that’s what she had been told by the nurse who had lifted her back into her bed, willing her to relax and breathe through her mouth instead of her nose – her broken nose. Did Austin break it in her nightmare or before? She couldn’t separate the events. The door was opened, more carefully this time, and in rushed a man she recognized. Arthur. He was saying something to the nurse, about too much medicine in her system. Too much everything. She felt his hand on her head, checking for a fever presumably, and then she fell back asleep, having exhausted herself from screaming.

When she woke up the second time, her room was dark but filled with a quiet snoring. Blair didn’t have the strength to turn around and see how it was, so she pressed her call button instead. A few minutes later, her nurse came into the room and the snoring stopped. The nurse’s footsteps mingled with another, and Blair felt a hand on her shoulder.

“Blair, it’s me, Roxy. Can you hear me?” Blair shook her head and finally rolled over to face her mentor. Roxy could see her tear stained cheeks and tried to keep herself together. “Do you know what happened yesterday? And what happened last night?” Blair nodded her head again.

“Yesterday was the combat testing. I broke my nose and have a slight concussion. Last night...” she trailed off, thinking. “Last night I had a nightmare. I was back at the house that I was held captive in. And everything looked the same as it did all those years ago. But... but the man behind the mask was Austin. And he asked me the same questions I was asked when it really happened: ‘What do your parents do and why were they in Brazil a few months ago?’ I kept telling him that I didn’t know what he was talking about, but he didn’t believe me. And then, he hit me with his gun. Just like he did yesterday.”

“Blair, you’re safe here from the men that hurt your family. Okay? I need you to believe me. No one will get you while you are here. Are you gonna be okay for a bit? You have the whole day off today, but I have some stuff I have to discuss with Arthur. I’ll come back to see you in just a little bit, yeah? You stay put.” Roxy put on a brave face for her recruit, but as soon as she walked out of the door, her expression turned to stone. They had to tell Blair what really happened to her parents. What really happened to her.

She stormed past the recruits’ dorm, making her way to Eggsy’s room. She knew it was still early, but she pounded on his door nonetheless. “Eggsy Unwin, you open this door right now! Damn it, Unwin!” An annoyed Eggsy pulled the door back and looked at her in disbelief.

“Rox, what the _fuck_ are you doin’? It is 8 in the mornin’. On our only day off. What in the world could you possibly want?” He was absolutely pissed and exhausted, but let her into his room anyways.

“Did you hear what happened to Blair last night?” His eyes focused on her, and he shook his head. She sat down on his bed before continuing, “She woke up screaming around two last night. Arthur and I were called down and she was a mess. Feel asleep quickly from exhaustion, but I slept in her room and when she woke up, she told me that she had dreamt about her kidnapping, except it was Austin that had taken her and not the guy Arthur told us about. She said that before she knew it was him, she was asked about what her parents really do and why they were in Brazil a few months before they were taken. Blair thought they were in Edinburgh. She knows and has known that things don’t add up, she just hasn’t talked about it. Arthur needs to tell her.”

“How is she?” Eggsy mumbled, shuffling around the room looking for clean clothes. Waiting for Roxy’s reply, he made his way over to his private bathroom, shutting the door almost all the way. “Is she gonna be able to continue tomorrow?”

“We’ll see. I think she just needs to rest today. When I talked to her nurse last night, she said that all of her vitals were good and that she hadn’t seen any other concerning behavior. And as much as I think we should tell her about her parents, I don’t know if she’s going to want to continue after that. But in the long run, knowing the truth about her past is more important. Right?”

“I think you’re right,” Eggsy shouted from the bathroom. “About all of it. But if Arthur lets us and if she allows us, I think we should be there with her. I think she’s gonna want to know about Harry’s role in all of this,” he said sadly. It had been a few months since his mentor’s death and he hadn’t fully coped with it. So when he found out Harry’s part in her parents’ lives, he had wanted to tell Blair about him and everything that he stood for. About how he cared about both of them. He stepped out of the bathroom and opened the door leading to the hallway. “C’mon, I’m sure Arthur’s up by now.”

Eggsy was right. When they had knocked on the door to command, Arthur let them in and was going over his glasses’ footage from yesterday. He went to the corner of the room and pulled two folding chairs out for them to sit on. Just as he saw that they were about to talk, he held up a hand, asking them to wait for just a few minutes. He busied himself, making them each a cup of tea before returning with a file in hand. It was the Asher file.

“I know why you are both here. You want me to tell Blair about her parents, and with last night’s events, I think you’re both right. Do you think I should bring her down here to talk or go to her? I’m leaning towards doing it here, because then I can show her videos and pictures of the two of them. I’ve been up all night talking to MI6, explaining the situation to them, and they have granted me access to her mother’s files.” Roxy and Eggsy were stunned. They thought convincing him was going to be a very difficult task, but they didn’t have to do a thing.

“I think she’d like to see the pictures. I wanted to see my dad when I joined.” Eggsy offered up.

“Yes, but Eggsy, your father died saving the lives of others. Blair’s parents were murdered. I see where you’re coming from and how the outcomes may be the same, but the backstories are completely different. Arthur, I think you should start telling her in her room and depending on how she is feeling, then you can show her. We have to go about this very slowly. And gently,” Roxy explained. “Arthur, if it’s okay with Blair, do you think we can be there with her?” Arthur had moved to gather his things, but turned to look at her.

“Are you sure you want to? Like you said, it’s going to be difficult for everyone in there.”

“That’s why we wanna be there,” Eggsy answered for her. Roxy nodded her head, agreeing with Eggsy.

“Then let’s go. Follow my lead, yeah? And if she doesn’t want to hear it or doesn’t want you two around, then we need to accept that.” With the files and his clipboard in hand, Arthur stood up and began to leave the room. They walked to medical in silence, mentally preparing themselves for Blair. When they had reached her door, instead of just walking in, Arthur knocked on her door. They heard a faint “come in,” and all took a deep breath.

“Good morning, Blair. Did you get some rest?” Arthur asked as he took a look at her medical records.

“Yeah, thanks. I feel a bit better now,” she said, adjusting her bed so she could sit up. “Is something wrong? You all look a bit off.”

“Blair, I need to talk to you about your past. About your parents, and who there were to me.” Arthur said. Blair had never seen him look as conflicted as he did right then.

“Who my parents were to you? Arthur, what are you on about?” Her tone made the question more of a demand.

“First, I need to know if you want Roxy and Eggsy to leave.” She shook her head “no” once, and Arthur continued. “Your father and I first met about 26 years ago. He was in your position back then, having been taken under the wing of a Kingsman. He was one of the finest recruits I had ever seen. He was quick, in both intelligence and physicality. Was always ready for a fight, but knew when he needed to back down. He was not a very serious person - always had some joke to tell everyone. But he took his job very seriously, and his family even more so.

“A year into his service with us, he met your mother and feel in love. One day, he was on a mission and I happened to be his handler that day. And I told him ‘Jon, there are going to be MI6 agents there, try not to kill them,’ and as he rounded a corner, he ran right into Charlotte. We were all stunned, as both of them had lied to each other about their jobs, and I had no idea since her files were code word classified. They had no time to figure things out, instead fighting alongside each other until they were out of the thick of it. After that mission, I remember your father and mother were going through a bit of a rough patch. He confided in me one day saying that his life was dangerous enough as it was that he couldn’t stand the thought of Charlotte doing the exact same thing. He asked me what I thought he should do, and I told him not to let her go. I knew that they were in it for the long run, and the next week, he had proposed.

“You came around less than a year after their wedding, and I remember Charlotte had gone into labor when your father was fighting off a bunch of drug dealers in Cuba. I never saw him complete a mission faster than he did then. He showed up to the hospital just in time, lucky in that fact that your mother had been in labor for hours, covered in blood, sweat, and eventually tears when he saw you for the first time. The next couple of years, your family was the happiest one I had come across. Every day, Jonathan came in with a new story of what you had done the night before. You... you made him and your mother so happy.

“A few months after your 12th birthday, your father was sent on a mission involving warring drug cartels in Brazil. His job was to kill everyone except the leaders. Sometimes you have to save the leaders in order to save the country from falling apart. This mission was to be so massive, that for the second time in 15 years, we joined forces with MI6, and your parents went down there together. Things went poorly though, and there was a fight between the three sides. One of the drug lords was killed in battle, and the country suffered for a few years - economic recession, constant warfare - none of which was your parents’ fault, but they were identified by the lord’s brothers, and they were determined to have revenge.

“There were three of them, and they took you and your parents’ hostage. MI6 and UK HQ did everything we could to find the three of you, but you were the only one we could get to before it was too late. We tried to stop them, Blair, I swear we did. It was our agents that helped police swarm your house. Our agents went in and tried to save them, but we were too late. When we heard that you were not in the house, we used all of our resources to find you. Blair, do you remember when you were pushed down into the rails, there was a man there telling you how to protect yourself? He told you to lay down in the middle of the tracks, and to make sure that you didn’t touch the metal as it could electrify you? That was one of our men. His name was Harry Hart, and he was your father’s mentor. The day Jonathan died, Harry was a wreck. When he found your grandmother in the hospital, he was the one that was able to convince her to take you to the states. To keep you safe. It was the best he could do until he killed the man that took you - the last man that posed a threat to you.

“Blair, about a year ago, Harry found him. He was sent on a minor mission to Uruguay, and he spotted him at a party he was undercover at. He followed him back to the hotel he was staying in and he killed him. Harry tried to find you after that, to tell you everything and to tell you that you were finally safe, but he was killed before he had the chance. I am so sorry I kept this from you. Truly, I wish we would have brought you into our protection sooner. Not a day goes by that I don’t think of them. I’m so sorry, Blair.” When he was finished, Arthur brought his head down into his hands. He had known it was wrong to keep all of this from her, but he was trying to protect her. And he was being selfish. He didn’t want to relive losing those two, and he didn’t want to see Blair’s face when it happened.

Blair remained quiet. Roxy and Eggsy kept sneaking looks over to her and then to each other. No one knew what to do. No one knew what she wanted them to do. Roxy was the first one to move in her direction, and she gently laid a hand on Blair’s arm. That seemed to snap Blair out of her trance. She looked up to her mentor, eyes filled to the brim with tears threatening to fall, and pulled Roxy into a hug. Roxy was taken aback, but she hugged her recruit fiercely. Roxy didn’t know what it was like to lose a parent, and she didn’t want to for a long time. But she cried along with Blair, as if she had lost her family that day too. 

They stayed like that for a few minutes, with the boys looking on. Eggsy couldn’t look directly at anyone for fear that he would cry for his dad and Harry in that moment. He wanted to stay strong for them. He needed to stay strong for them all. Arthur felt numb. Over the course of his time being a Kingsman, he had lost agents before, but nothing was as gruesome as the loss of Jonathan and his wife and no one was more undeserving of death than Harry. Arthur was brought out of his thoughts as he saw Blair releasing her grip on Roxy and climbing out of bed.

Her cheeks were blotchy and she had to constantly wipe at her nose, causing her to wince in pain. She began walking towards him and he became slightly afraid. If she wanted to hit him, he’d let her. If she wanted to scream and call him out on his selfishness, he would. She deserved that and more. But there was no trace of anger on her face. Just tears. When she reached him, she hugged him. She threw all of herself at him, and he found a few tears spilling from his eyes. _Jonathan, Charlotte, I am so sorry._

Blair’s grip on him tightened before he heard her whisper “you’re Merlin, aren’t you?” He just shook his head. “Father used to talk about you a lot. Especially when we built model planes. I used to ask him to tell me about his work, and he always told me about the people he worked with instead. He loved you and Harry very much.” It was then that Eggsy began to sniffle. Blair began to pull apart from Arthur before saying, “it’s okay,” and then wrapping her arms around Eggsy.

Roxy had told her a bit about Eggsy’s past whenever they had lunch without him, so she knew his father was training to be a Kingsman and that Harry was Eggsy’s mentor. He was the closest person that knew what she was feeling. He wrapped his arms around her, and they just held each other as their cries subsided. When they pulled apart, they shared a sad, small smile before Blair went back to her bed. She wanted to say something, but the words were all jumbled in her head.

“I always knew they weren’t telling me everything. The night before they left for Brazil, I thought they were going to Edinburgh, but they had never mentioned an aunt living in Edinburgh before. As they were saying goodbye, I asked them why they were keeping secrets from me, and they never refuted the claim. My mother called me a smart, little duckling, and my father said they would tell me when I got older. That it wasn’t a good time. And I accepted that. That conversation played through my head a million times when I was taken from them, but I knew that they would want me to keep it to myself.

“And I remember Harry,” she said, glancing at Eggsy. “I remember watching him from the rails, and I trusted him. I didn’t see him again after that, but I will never forget the look on his face right before there was nothing but the train. I owe him everything. I owe you all. My father loved his job, he didn’t have to tell me that. I just knew. And my mother loved her job. And we were happy.” Another tear escaped down her cheek, and she wiped it away, frustrated. “I imagine that you are going to ask if I want to continue with this?” She directed her question towards Arthur.

“I was, yes. We want you here, Blair, but if it weren’t for this type of business, your parents might still be alive.” Arthur sighed as he looked at her, and that is when he saw the anger.

“But they aren’t here, Arthur. They aren’t and they wouldn’t want me to focus on the ‘what ifs.’ They could have still passed away in a car crash, or they could have been murdered on the street, or died during V-Day. But they didn’t. They died protecting their work. They both believed that what they were doing was for the best, and I believe, that despite what happened, Kingsman is good. And there is no doubt in my mind that my parents would want me to continue to pursue whatever makes me happy. And that is exactly what I am going to do.” 


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise the next chapter will be much more exciting as you see the recruits complete their next test! Hope you all enjoy!

            It was not clear what was making Blair happy those days. She had moved back into the dorm after a few more days in medical, but besides at mandatory training sessions, she was nowhere to be found, unless you had access to all of the cameras in the building, which Arthur did. He made checking in on her every couple of hours a habit of his – one that he kept quiet about. He didn’t want to share her location with Roxy or Eggsy, or any of the others that had mentioned that they hadn’t seen her in a while for that matter. She wanted to disappear, and if she wanted to be found, she would have made it clear to the others.

            Arthur was still concerned though. Hiding was a normal behavior after learning of why one’s parents were murdered, but Blair had shut down in more ways than just hiding. She kept to herself after training, only taking when absolutely necessary. She was still outperforming everyone, but that was most likely because she kept herself occupied and out of the way by training for an extra two to four hours daily. She slept the minimum needed to keep herself moving and was eating the bare minimum as well. After observing her, Arthur had determined that she wasn’t starving or restricting herself, but rather, she just forgot to eat. Her thoughts seemed all over the place. And all of these reactions are to be expected, but it didn’t stop the concern from bubbling up in Arthur’s stomach, making him think that telling her was a horrible idea.

            Blair wasn’t the only one struggling though. The recruits were all numb from most everything. They were exhausted, mentally and physically, due to the training they were being put through. Since the combat testing, they had all passed their written tests and were currently learning the art of being handled. Every day, Arthur, Eggsy, and Roxy took turns directing the recruits in their everyday activities, as well as some small mission simulations. They were all passing, but it was clear that they needed something to pull them out of their funk. They were coming up on the three-month V-Day anniversary, and Arthur wondered if that had something to do with it. It was highly unlikely that someone hadn’t been affected by Valentine’s plot in one way or another. Most of these kids, coming from high-caliber families, lost family members and friends that day. They were still mourning, and Arthur knew he needed something big to get them back on track.

            Switching his monitors from the feed of the training center where Blair currently was by herself, Arthur tried locating Eggsy within the building. He wasn’t coming up on any of the cameras though, so he must have been in his room. Pressing a small button on the side of his glasses, Arthur began to speak, seemingly to no one.

            “Eggsy, are you here?” Arthur called out. In Eggsy’s room, his glasses began to make a buzzing sound. He picked them off his side table, set his book down, and answered his boss.

            “I’m here, Arthur.”

            “Eggsy, will you come to command? I want to run something by you.” In command, Arthur’s arm rested on the table, flicking between the feed outside of Eggsy’s room and the recruits’ room. It was around 10pm, so most of the recruits were dead asleep, but if his plan went accordingly, they’d all be awake sooner rather than later. He hoped Blair would decide to go to bed soon, so she could get a bit of shuteye before the next task. His eyes switched over to Eggsy’s feed when he noticed the door open and heard Eggsy come through on the speakers saying: “on my way.”

            Waiting for Eggsy’s arrival, Arthur leaned back in his chair and rested his eyes a bit. Training this time around seemed more draining than it had been in the past. He attributes that to having to collaborate with Jason on his plans and that there had been more animosity in the mansion than there had been in the past. Plus, the world had gone to shit, so there’s always something new that needed to be handled. Arthur had been a bit lucky in the sense that other state-run intelligence agencies had been taking the reins on dealing with the V-Day aftermath. He knew it was because most of the high level national leaders that had survived insisted on taking control to make sure like something like this never happened again, and while Arthur was monitoring their movements, he was letting them handle the situation while he rebuilt the organization. He just didn’t have the man power to do much these days. Most of his agents were on long-term protective missions that were helped in keeping track of high level members of society, but that left only Roxy and Eggsy to go on missions as they came up. And he had sent them on a few since the start of the recruiting process, but they were still learning and he just couldn’t juggle being Arthur and being Merlin. _Maybe that’ll be my next step: getting someone to take over Merlin. Well... maybe Arthur, because that has to be the worst thing I’ve ever tried to handle._

            He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard Eggsy knocking at the door. He got up and ushered the boy in, offering him a cup of tea. Eggsy politely turned it down, and asked what was going on. Arthur motioned for him to pull a chair up to his station.

            “Do you remember how I told you a while ago that I was working on something even better than the skydiving test?” With a nod of his head, Eggsy waited for Arthur to continue. “We’ll I’ve cleared the idea with Jason, and I think we should send the recruits on a survival mission. They won’t face any real trouble, but they’ll be dropped off at an unknown location, with only Kingsman’s standard glasses and a watch to get them going. The goal will be for them to make it back to the mansion within the weekend. So, they will have 48 hours and nothing else to get them home. I think this type of mission will give us a very good idea of who can blend into various situations and who will be able to get themselves out of a sticky situation.” Eggsy looked pleased, but there was an obvious part of the plan that was missing.

            “Where are you gonna drop them then?” That was indeed the question.

            “I was hoping you would help me come up with something,” Arthur said, pulling up a map on the monitor in front of them.

            “Shouldn’t Rox be here? She’d pick somewhere better than me” Eggsy looked around, clearly uncomfortable without his friend here.

            “Eggsy, you are just as much of a Kingsman as Roxy is, and these decisions can be made by you. Just because you didn’t get in the same way as she did, doesn’t make you anything less than her. You earned your place here, so it’s time you start accepting all of the responsibilities of being a Kingsman.” Eggsy looked thrown off by that. He knew deep down that this was his new life, but when it came to things that didn’t involve physical skill, he wasn’t sure he was right for the job. He was smart, but he was street smart, not a worldly intellect. _I’ll make myself better,_ he promised himself.

            “Yes sir. Well, if they only have 48 hours and we don’t give them any money or nothin’, we should probably keep ‘em within a few hours on a train. Somewhere in Wales, or Scotland, maybe? France could work too, cause that’s just a few hours by Chunnel, right? France would be harder to come back from cause there’d be a language barrier. That could be fun to watch.” Arthur brought Paris up on the map, and zoomed in.

            “We could drop them in a small city outside of Paris. That way they’d have to find their way into the city, as there won’t be much transportation-wise in a small town, and then they’d have to find their way back here. That could be good. If we do that, I’d want to provide them with passports though, because creating those is way beyond their level, don’t you think?” Glancing his head over to Eggsy, he seemed on board with the plan. “Alright, so glasses, watches, and travel documents. Easy enough. I’d want you and Roxy to come with me on the plane to drop them off, and I’ll want you two in command with me for most of the weekend to observe. Jason has to fly back to the states for a family matter, but will return within a few days, so I’ll need you two to help out.”

            “Of course, Arthur. When would you want to fly ‘em out? We’ll need to let Roxy know.” Arthur was doing the math in his head, and seeing that it was nearly midnight on a Thursday, if they left tomorrow morning and landed mid-day Friday, they need to be back to the mansion by mid-day Sunday. That’d be enough time to falsify passports, get Roxy and fill her in, and then get the recruits ready to go. _That should do it,_ he thought.

            “We leave at 09:00. You should go and get some sleep, as it’ll be a long weekend for you as well. I’ll notify Roxy, and have her here by 07:00. You should come meet us here at the same time, alright?”

            “Alright, Arthur, I’ll see you in the mornin’. Good night,” he yawned as he backed out of the room. Arthur let one escape him before ringing Roxy. She had gone home to visit her family for a few days, but she was supposed to return tomorrow anyways, so he hoped he wouldn’t inconvenience her too much. He decided to ring her on her cell phone, since it was more likely that she’d hear that than her glasses.

            “Hello?” A tired voice asked.

            “Roxy, I’m sorry for calling so late, but can you come into the shop tomorrow at 7 instead of noon? I’ve decided on the recruits’ next mission and it involves a bit of travel.”

            “Yes, Arthur, I can make that work. Where are we going?”

            “France, I’ll fill you in on the rest in the morning. See you in command then. Good night, Roxy.” She whispered a good night back before hanging up. He had quite a bit of work to do before he could go to bed, so he got to it. He started with the passports since that would be the most time consuming. As he got to Blair’s photo, he remembered that he hadn’t checked in on her since Eggsy had come by. As he found the feed for the center, he was hoping he’d find it empty. Seeing that it was, he switched to the dorm, and just as he did, he saw Blair climbing into bed. _Good girl, you’ll need your rest for what’s next._ Seeing that she had called it a night, he went back to his work, hoping to sleep soon as well.

            At 7:15 on Friday morning, Arthur, Eggsy, and Roxy went into the recruits’ room to wake them up. Normally, they all set their own alarms, but this was a surprise walk-up call. Eggsy wanted to do the honors of blowing the air horn, and Roxy noticed that he got a little too much joy holding it closer to Austin than the rest of them. As the first note of the horn wailed on, eight bodies jumped out of bed, confused, scared, and annoyed when they saw that it was Eggsy blaring the horn.

            “Eggsy, that’s enough,” Arthur commented. “Fall in everyone.” The kids scrambled out of bed and organized themselves into two lines of four. “You will have just under an hour and a half to get yourselves ready for a weekend outing. I would suggest taking a nice shower and eating a good breakfast, because I don’t know when the next time you will be getting either will be. You will all wear the standard training uniform, and will be ready at 8:45 to leave. We will come and get you at 8:45. Fall out.” The trio immediately left the room, hoping to avoid any questions, and a majority of the recruits didn’t know exactly what was going on. They were too tired to move quickly and some of them crawled back into bed, not taking to heart the warnings from their superior.

            Austin and Blair went straight for the showers, hoping to beat the rush and get some of the hot water before it was all gone. Since their fights, Blair had not necessarily been avoiding Austin as must as she just didn’t acknowledge his presence. For a few days, that made him livid. He wanted another rematch and wanted to prove that he was above everyone, but he got no reaction from her. Eventually, he was just reduced to sending a mixture of annoyed and confused looks in her direction. That was what he was doing as they both grabbed their stuff to head for the showers. Blair didn’t even look at him, closing her shower curtain to him and the rest of the dorm.

            She was tired. Not just _I didn’t get much sleep last night_ kind of tired, but the _my body aches, and my words are slurred, and I’m trying to hold it together, but I don’t know if I can anymore_ tired. She had been working so hard to push everything out of her mind, except what needed to be done to become a Kingsman. Once she had learned the truth, nothing else mattered. Everything that she had been trying to figure out for the past 10 years had finally been resolved and there wasn’t anything else to focus on other than following in her parents’ footsteps. The only time she didn’t feel empty was when she was training, so that’s what she spent all of her time doing. Blair purposely avoided sleeping more than what was absolutely essential, because she found herself staring into Austin’s eyes every night in her dreams. He was still the one taking the place of her kidnapper, and he was scary enough in the daytime that she didn’t want to experience him in the darkness any more than necessary.

            She let the hot water burn her skin, hoping that it would burn away what was left of her entirely. When she realized how stupid she was being and how she was taking much more than her share, she turned down the temperature, enough for her body to be covered in goosebumps by the change in temperature, and then she turned off the showerhead. Quickly drying herself off and changing into her training uniform, she stepped out to let someone else take her place. Dropping her pajamas off at her bed, she saw that Andrew and James had gone back to sleep. She wanted them to have enough time to shower and eat, so she gently shook their shoulders and reminded them of what was going on. James grunted in response and rolled back over, but Andrew gave her a sleepy smile and thanked her for looking out for him.

            She let him be, deciding that she should take Arthur’s advice and actually eat this morning. If it was going to be the last time in a while, she was going to take advantage of it. Entering the small Kingsman cafeteria, she filled her plate with French toast, bacon, and an apple and a banana. Finding an empty table wasn’t difficult, as she was the only one there, so Blair picked her favorite spot, right next to the window that overlooked the front grounds. They were completely cut off from civilization, at least that’s how it looked. The grounds were vast and they were circled by a dense tree line. She felt safe out here, in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by people with highly advanced sets of skills that could easily kill her. Oddly enough, it seemed to be the most stable place she had lived since her parents’ death.

            Eating slowly, she watched as the wind blew through the trees, and eventually she heard the sound of footsteps. Not wanting to look over her shoulder towards the door, she let the footsteps identify themselves. Much to her dismay, it was Austin, Nick, and Max that had entered, but they decided not to pay her much attention this morning, which she was grateful for. They were too engrossed in their conversation about what they thought was going to happen to them this weekend.

            “Maybe we are going on an actual mission? Finally get to show off our skills in a real situation rather than those stupid simulations that Arthur puts us through. I swear to god, if I have him talking in my ear throughout an entire mission, I’ll go insane,” Max complained as he loaded up his tray with various breakfast foods.

            “He’s not going to send all eight of us on a mission together. That’d be way too complicated and he wouldn’t be able to look after all of us. No, it’s got to be something else,” Austin challenged. For once, Blair agreed with him. Arthur already looked beyond stressed most of the time, and sending them all on a mission would only elevate that. It has to be something that was more dependent on the recruits than the handlers. But Blair couldn’t think of anything either.

            The cafeteria was beginning to fill up, and Blair didn’t like all of the noise. She just wanted a quiet place to think through this weekend’s possibilities. Excusing herself from the table that now included Andrew, James, and Harry, Blair walked back to their dorm to wait. She wanted to take in everything on her walk, in case she couldn’t complete whatever task was up next for them, so she walked slowly around all of the familiar areas. She went to medical to look through the windows at the empty patient’s rooms, to the training center where she had spent countless hours last night alone working on her fighting techniques, and finally to their dorm room. She had another 20 minutes until they were all supposed to be ready to go, so she figured she’s had at least five or ten minutes of quiet, and she wanted to take advantage of it. Blair tucked herself back into bed, allowing her eyes to drift closed. She thought she had only been like that for a minute or so, but soon everyone was back in the room and Andrew was poking her shoulder, telling her that it was almost time to go.

            “Fall in,” Arthur called as the door swung open, revealing the trio dressed in suits. “Glad to see that you are all ready to go. If you’ll follow me, I’ll explain what’s going on when we get onto the plane.” They immediately began to follow them out the door, and Blair caught Roxy sending her a smile. Blair returned it, and began to feel bad about how she has been acting towards her mentor. It wasn’t as if she was being mean, but she just didn’t feel like being around anyone for long periods of time, including Roxy. She’d have to make it up to her somehow.

            The 11 of them piled into a large elevator that would take them down to the hanger to the awaiting plane. They had all seen the hanger before, when they had first entered the Kingsman mansion, but they had never been up close and personal with the equipment. Blair immediately thought of her father and thought that this is what he must have felt like every day - the sense of awe and child-like giddiness, crashing in waves that only got bigger as you moved through the hanger. It wasn’t until her eyes became blurry that Blair had felt the sadness creep in. She thought she had been dealing with the news decently, considering everything, but there were times where it just became too much. Whenever she felt those feelings coming on, she locked herself in the girl’s locker room, knowing that only Roxy or the nurse would find her if they went looking.

            She didn’t have the option of hiding right now, though, so she pushed those feelings back down and swallowed the grief. She quickly wiped her eyes as she climbed up the steps of their plane, smiling at Roxy, Eggsy, and Arthur when she passed them in the cabin. Blair knew that they sensed something wrong, but they kept it to themselves as she took a seat across from Andrew. As Blair waited for Arthur to give them more instructions, she memorized the interior of the plane - the way Arthur had his own mini-command station away from everything else, and the way that there were less seats than a normal plane would typically have and how everyone of them had their own green argyle pillow. She noticed the glass bottles of alcohol to the side of her and a mini monitor above that. It was quite honestly, the most posh plane she had ever been on.

            Suddenly, the plane began to hover in the air. Everyone was shocked at that point, as they had never seen or have been in a plane that didn’t need a run way to get going. As the plane inched higher and higher, Blair remembered that there was a ceiling above them and she had no idea how they were supposed to get out. That was until a rumbling filled the air and the ceiling retracted and they were suddenly above the mansion. This place continued to amaze her, and she didn’t think it would ever stop.

            “Attention please, everyone. Today, and the rest of this weekend, will be quite an adventure for you all as you will be dropped off at an unknown location and asked to make your way back to the mansion within 48 hours. Roxy and Eggsy are passing around a backpack for each of you,” he gestured to the two as they began to move through the cabin. “Inside, you will find a packet of documents, a watch, and a pair of Kingsman glasses. The documents will outline your new person as you are not to go by your real names wherever we drop you off. Additionally, they will be needed if you happen to cross an international border.” Eggsy handed Blair her bag, and with a quick thank you, she began to dig through it, pulling out the folder of documents and finding a passport and a birth certificate with her face, but the name “Lily Gray” written across them.

            “Each watch is set to GMT time, so wherever you end up, know that you will have exactly 48 hours from the time you step foot on the ground to get back home. The glasses you have been given are incredibly important and should be wore at all times. They allow us to see what you are seeing, so if you get into any real trouble, and by ‘real trouble’ I mean that you are about to die, then we can assist you. There is a small button on the side of the glasses that will allow you to communicate with us. Press it once and begin to talk, and it will stay active for two hours after being pressed. We will be able to reach you at any time though, regardless of when you last pressed the button. If for some reason, you lose your watch, you may ask us for a time update via your glasses. Does everyone understand?”

            “Yes sir!” They all shouted as they put on their new equipment.

            “Good, now sit back and enjoy the ride.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this mission is probably going to span over another chapter or maybe two, depending on how things go. I didn't want to make this one too long, but a 48 hour mission in France deserves details, so detail you will get. Any French in the chapter was taken off of google translate, so I apologize if it's not 100% accurate. I really like this mission so far, and I hope you all like it as well. Feedback is always appreciated!

            After nearly two and a half hours on the plane, Blair was confident that they hadn’t gone as far as they were made to believe. She kept her eyes glued to the window and was pretty sure that they circled the country side a bit and had a hard time finding a place to land. But there they were, on the ground, with Arthur yelling at them through their glasses that they needed to be back at the mansion no later than noon on Sunday. They watched as the plane flew off, carrying the only three people they could trust for a while.

            No one knew what to do. They were in a field, standing in a small circle, and every single one of them was lost. There was a road in the not too far distance, and Austin took off for it, yelling for everyone to follow him. At that point, they didn’t have much choice. They stepped carefully through the field, occasionally tripping over the loose soil, and mumbling a curse or two. It took a few minutes for them to make it to the road, and when they did, they had no idea which direction to go.

            “Alright, four of us will go this way, and the other four will go the opposite way. We can’t go too far because we don’t want to lose sight of each other. Once someone sees some sign of civilization, we’ll signal for the other group to group, alright? Americans, with me. Brits, that way.” Blair rolled her eyes at the fact that they were still so segregated, but she did as Austin said and followed the others down the road. Blair was the last in line, so she had to watch for the others and make sure that no one was out of sight. Occasionally, she’d yelled over to them asking if they had anything, and the answer was always “no.” She was about to tell her boys to slow down for they were losing visual on the others when she heard Andrew yell something in front of her.

            “Hey! I got something! It’s a house!”  He pointed off in the distance, and sure enough, there was a large farm house not much further down the road. Blair turned around and ran a few feet in the direction of the others.

            “Hey! Guys! We’ve got something!” She screamed, hoping that it was loud enough for the recruits and not loud enough to draw attention from the house they were going to ask help from. She saw someone in the distance raise a hand in acknowledgement, and slowly their figures grew as they got closer. It took nearly a half an hour for them to cross their distance and the distance of Blair’s group, but when they were finally there, they were pleased.

            “Let’s go boys! We’ve gotta figure out where we are first,” Austin reminded everyone, as if they forgot the most important part of their problem. As a group, they walked towards the farm house, and Blair pointed on the French flag that flew off the front porch. “Looks like those passports are gonna come in handy. Anybody speak French?” Blair looked around and saw that no one else had stepped up, so she hesitantly raised her hand.

            “I took a few years of classes, but I’m a bit rusty,” she told them.

            “Fuck, alright, Blair, you have to do the talking. Make it believable,” Austin rolled his eyes as he pushed her to the front, signaling that he had no faith in her being able to get them help.

            “No, Austin, I’m gonna completely screw us all over. Of course I’m gonna make it believable. Just stand behind me and look innocent, yeah?” She led the way up the long drive, stepped up the porch steps, and indicated for the boys to stay on the ground. She didn’t want to intimidate these people. Knocking on the door, she prayed for someone to answer, and preferably someone that spoke some English and would be willing to help them out. 30 seconds had past and no one had answered yet. Blair looked back to the group, shrugging her shoulders, but immediately turned around when she heard a lock being turned. A man nearly twice her age had opened the door with a pleasant, but slightly concerned look on his face.

            “Puis-je vous aider?”  He asked her. _Can I help you?_ _I think that’s what he said._

            “Oui, mon nom est Lily, et... uh mes amis et moi,” she turned and pointed to the boys behind her, “étions dans un bus... umm qui est tombé en panne. Pouvez-vous me... dire où nous sommes?” He still looked a bit confused, but she was pretty sure she had her translation right.

            “Parlez-vous anglais?” _English? Fuck yes. Alright, Blair, don’t fuck this up._

            “Yes, I speak English. I’m sorry, I hope I translated all of that right. My... my friends and I were on a bus that –”

            “A bus that... uh broke down, correct? And you... you do not know where you are?” He asked, stumbling through the words a bit. Blair nodded her head vigorously. “You are in Coutomer, France. It is uh... outside of Paris.” _Oh thank god._

            “How far is Paris from Coutomer?” Blair asked slowly, trying to also figure out the question in French if that was easier for him. His hand went up to scratch the scruff on his chin.

            “About 40 kilometers from here. Uh... 30 or 40 minutes to drive.” Blair smiled her sweetest smile, hoping to get this man to help them out. His left hand had stayed in his pant pocket the whole time, so she couldn’t tell if he was married or not, but she could at least try to flirt her way through things.

            “Is there any way you could help us get to Paris?” She asked, batting her eyelashes. “We are... uh... on our way to a... uh funeral in Paris. And it would mean the world to our family if we were there.” The man looked like he was conflicted in the decision. Should he let these random strangers into his home and help them to Paris or send them on their way?

            “Well... I cannot drive you there but I work on cars. I can help fix bus?” He suggested, shrugging his shoulders enough for Blair to see a wedding ring. _Shoot._

            “That is very kind of you, thank you.” She said, smiling back at the boys, who didn’t look as pleased as she was trying to.

            “Yes, umm... I drive you to bus and your friends can stay with my wife and wait, yes?” Blair nodded, as he nudged the door open, allowing the group inside. They all whispered a mixture of “merci’s” and “thank you’s” and he walked past them to lead the way. “My name is Damien, and this,” he said, pointing to a women baking, “is my wife, Marcelle.”  He walked over to his wife, kissed her on the cheek, and whispered in French that he was going to help fix their bus and that the boys would stay with her. She smiled something sweet, rinsed her hands of the floury mess, and then shook hands with Blair, while giving warm looks to the boys. _We got lucky,_ Blair thought to herself. _But then again, there is no bus. Shit. Think, Blair, think._

            “Lily, you come with me, and we fix the bus. I will get tools from the back.” She waited in the kitchen with him, grabbed Andrew’s wrist and fiercely whispered, “Don’t let them do anything stupid,” clearly meaning Austin, his boys, and Jack, to an extent. “Ready, Lily?”

            “Yes, thank you again, for everything,” she said to both him and his wife. Turning towards her “friends,” she told them that she would be back with the bus very soon.

            Damien was a bit of a talker, asking Blair where they were from and who died. His English was very good for the most part, but he was talking faster than he could think of the proper English translations. Blair tried to throw some French in to make him more comfortable, but he insisted that they speak English, as it helped him to practice for an upcoming work event that Blair didn’t pay much attention to as he explained it. She was trying to come up with a reasonable excuse as to why the bus didn’t actually exist, but he questioned her again before she had an answer.

            “Your bus is up here, right?”

            “Yes... yes, we left it up here with the driver while he tried to contact his bus company for a replacement.” They continued to drive on when Blair came up with a solution. “It should be right past this tree,” she explained. Of course, there was nothing past that tree, and when she “realized” it, she was shocked. “But, we left it right here. And the bus driver said he would not leave without us! Oh no, what are we going to do? We’ll miss great grandma’s funeral and my mother will never speak to me again. I swear, it was right here. That dirty little...” She started to tear up a bit, and Damien had no idea what to do.

            “I will find a way to get you and your friends to the funeral, okay? Just... please... do not cry.” His concern almost made Blair feel bad for her act, but she heard a quiet “Good girl, Blair,” from Eggsy through her glasses, and she felt good about the way she had handled it. Damien turned the car around, and she kept up the dramatics, talking about how they didn’t want to cause them any trouble and how grateful she was for “nice, French folk” willing to help others. _Building his pride is definitely the way to go_ , she thought, and she continued doing just that until they neared the house.

            She knew instantly that something was wrong. There was a dust cloud hanging in the air as if cars had just been zipping through the countryside, and Damien’s wife was on the poach, crying. When he spotted her, his foot came down hard on the gas and he nearly flung himself out of the car to get to her. Blair stepped out of the car, very slowly and approached the couple, keeping a few feet separating them. The two were speaking rapid French, and Blair couldn’t keep up at all, but she knew the recruits did something stupid when she saw Marcelle point to her, letting more tears fall down her face. Damien spun around angrily, and stomped towards Blair. She held up her hands in defense, and backed herself into the car door.

            “Your friends stole two of our cars while my wife was making them cookies and coffee! We tried to help you... and this! This is how you treat us?!” He roared, getting within a foot of her body. She was honestly scared in that moment, and she wanted to kill Andrew and James for going along with whatever plot was surely concocted by Austin.

            “I swear, I didn’t know! I... I didn’t have any part in that. Our bus really did break down and we needed help. I didn’t know they would do something like that. I am so sorry, please, you have to believe me.” He was inches away from her face now, and she could feel his breath puffing out onto her nose and cheeks.

            “How do I know you are telling the truth? This could have been the plan all along! I am calling the police, and you are coming with me to wait for them!” He leaned down for her wrist, and she let him grab it knowing that if she was that close to his car, she wouldn’t be able to escape the corner she had created. He pulled her away a few feet, before she twisted herself from his grasp. Thinking quickly, she knew that if she tried to run, she wouldn’t be able to outrun his car, but she also didn’t want to steal the only remaining car from them. They had both been so nice to them and were willing to help and then the others fucked everything up. She hesitated a second, hoping that this would count as one of the moments where Arthur would step in and tell her what to do, but nothing came. If she was going to get away from Damien, the only way she was going to do it was to take the car, and that’s what she did.

            She scrambled back, jumped onto the hood of the truck, and slide across the length of it. Throwing herself into the driver’s seat, she thanked her lucky stars that he left the keys in the ignition when he was in such a rush to get to his wife. She threw the car into reverse as he began to pound on the hood, trying to make his way to the driver’s side. She yelled “I’m so sorry,” more times that she could count as she reached the end of the drive way and sped down the first hundred yards of road. She had tears running down her cheeks, wetting the collar of her training uniform as she tried to figure out what to do next. When she looked out of the review mirror, Damien and his wife were out of sight. She knew he would be calling the cops immediately, but she also knew that this car was going to be her only form of transportation to Paris. She decided that she would leave the car on the outskirts of Paris, in hopes that the police would find it relatively soon, and that the couple would have at least one of their cars back within the day.

            Blair also knew that she would need to change her clothes since they gave her away. _Shit. How the fuck could the guys do this? Not only did they completely abandon her, but they ruined that poor couple’s life. Fuck._ Blair forced herself to bring her breathing and heart rate back down, and she focused herself. She needed to find the way to Paris, ASAP. She continued driving, turning down random roads, but always getting back to the direction she was headed in to throw off her trail. Eventually, she noticed that the houses were getting closer and closer and whatever town she was in was getting more and more populated. Blair figured that was a good sign, as she could get directions if need be.

            As luck would have it, though, she saw a sign in the distance pointing to a freeway with big bold letters, spelling “Paris.” Blair got on as quickly as possible, wanting to get as far away as she could. She stayed on the freeway until she saw more and more signs indicating that Paris was not too far away. _Only 20 more kilometers_. As much as she wanted to floor it, she couldn’t risk drawing any attention to herself, so she drove just slightly above the posted limit. Within 15 more minutes, she saw her exit.

            After another kilometer, she was in the heart of Paris. The streets were lined with vendors and tourists and all she wanted to do was get out of that stupid car. She drove for a few more minutes until she found a parking lot that was relatively full. Once she found a spot in the middle of a bunch of cars, she hid the keys under the driver’s seat, grabbed her things, and calmly walked out of the lot like she knew where she was going. She checked her watch for the first time since leaving the plane and saw that it was already 4:00. She had no idea that the time had passed that quickly, she panicked, and thinking that there was no way she was going to make it home by Sunday. She didn’t had a clue on how to get started.  

            _No, Blair, you know what to do. First you need new clothes, because now you might be on the run from the police._ Walking quickly down the streets, she looked for street vendors selling clothes. _Even with the scamming, these clothes have to be the cheapest._ She spotted a man selling “I  <3 Paris” shirts and booty shorts and figured that was the best she was going to be able to do at this point. _How are you going to get them though? You have no money and nothing to trade. Wait... the watch. The watch was something that Arthur had said “if you lose this... then you can do this...” You can trade the watch! But this is surely worth more than a t-shirt and shorts. Find someone better, someone smart, and trade for money. Tell them it’s worth a fortune._

            As Blair continued down the bridge from the man selling shirts and shorts, she kept an eye out for someone selling things more worthwhile. She wandered for a bit, but she spotted the perfect woman, who had set up her merchandise under a tree near the river. The woman caught Blair staring, and waved her over.

            “Bonjour mademoisel! You like to buy a purse to remember your time in Paris? Of course you would! Come! Come and look at what I can offer!” Blair made her way over and carefully examined the merchandise. “Very nice, yes? This one,” she held up a bright yellow bag, “would look very nice. Complement your eyes! It is a Michael Kors. I give you a special deal. Normally, purse is 450 euro, but I sell it to you for 200 euro? Good deal, yes?” She urged Blair on.

            “It’s beautiful, but I am afraid that I don’t have any money to offer you,” Blair gave the woman a sad smile, and slowly backed away from the purses.

            “Okay, okay, I give it to you for 150? Yes? That is as low as I go.” Blair shook her head.

            “Really, I do not have any money. Just my backpack, this jumper, and my watch,” she held up her wrist for the vender to see. She reached out to grab her hand, looking closely at the watch.

            “That is very nice watch for someone with no money,” she looked skeptical, just how Blair wanted her.

            “It was a gift from my grandfather. Hand-made and one of a kind. I have no money because I had to use it all to get here. I ran away from home, you see, and this is all that is left,” she explained as she gestured to her outfit.

            “One of a kind, you say? Hmm? I help you out, yes. You give me watch, and I will give you 150 euros, yes?” She looked hopeful, clearly believing she could get a lot of money for it. Arthur wasn’t stopping her from selling it, and she had noticed before that it wasn’t a typical Kingsman watch, in that it didn’t have their logo on it at all. It was just a basic leather watch, probably given with the expectation that the recruits would do something like this.

            “150? I think it could easily sell for 400, don’t you think? I’ll give it to you for half?” Blair suggested.

            “400 you say? Alright, yes, 200 euros I will give you,” She began unzipping a fanny pack that had rested around her stomach and began counting 20 euro notes. When she handed them over, Blair held them up the sun and saw that the government watermarks were in place and that they were not counterfeit. The vendor was clearly offended by Blair checking the money, but she brushed it off when Blair began taking the watch off. She looked at the time once more before handing it over. “Thank you for your business,” she said, giving the watch a special place in front of the purses. Blair waved and continued down the river, looking for the cheapest clothes. Once she found something appropriate, she handed over a 20, snuck her way into a public bathroom that she was supposed to pay for, and quickly changed her clothes.

            Stuffing the uniform into her backpack, she hid in her stall until she figured out what to do next. When she had last looked at her watch, it was 5:30 GMT, meaning that it was now after 6:30 in France. She wanted an accurate number though, so she reached up to her glasses, pressed the button and asked if anyone was there. Arthur answered and asked if she needed a time update. Blair listened to his tone of voice to tell if he was upset she had sold the watch, but she couldn’t get anything from him.

            “Blair, it is currently 7:15 in France, making it 6:15 back home. You have less than 42 hours to make it home. Good luck,” and with that, Arthur was gone. Blair could hear that there was a line forming outside, so she left her stall and made her way back onto the streets of Paris. The sun was low over the river, and Blair wondered what had become of the others. As angry as she had been earlier at Andrew and James, she hoped they were alright. Harry too. But Blair couldn’t waste too much time thinking about them as she had to figure out her next move. _The train station,_ she thought. _If I can use the rest of this to buy a ticket, then I can get back to London tomorrow. Once in London, things will be much easier, but for now, I need a train ticket and somewhere to sleep._


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 10... Let's do this.

They were taking shifts in command, mainly to make sure that Arthur finally got some well-deserved sleep. Though Eggsy had also fallen asleep, but he was in the corner of the room, rolled up into a small ball on the floor. Roxy wanted to go get him a blanket and pillow, because there was no way he was comfortable, but she couldn’t risk leaving the monitors. They had four of the screens up, splitting each in half, giving way to the feed of all eight remaining recruits.

Things had been quiet for a few hours, but all of the recruits were still up and moving. It was nearly 3:30 in the morning, making it 2:30 where all of the recruits were and none of them had found somewhere to sleep. It was a bit cold outside, so they were all searching for places in doors, but Roxy doubted that most of them would find a place to sleep with no money. She figured that the cold wasn’t the only thing making them want to find a place in doors; parts of Paris could be considered sketchy at night, and one could run into trouble if they were asleep or not paying attention.

Based on the events of earlier that afternoon, there were three groups in Paris right now. The first group being Austin, Nick, Max, and James, who had all jumped into the first car when Austin had snuck around the back and quietly pulled it around the house. Jack, followed Austin’s lead, and took the second car they had noticed when Damien went out to get his tools. Jack pretty much ordered Andrew and Harry to get in with him, saying that if they stuck behind, there was no way they were going to escape the police when they eventually arrived. Their shot at making it back to the mansion would disappear with that of the car. So, they got it. And then there was Blair, who had somehow escaped Damien after learning of what happened to the others.

On a small, fifth monitor, a map of Paris was blown up and it had eight little dots moving around it. Arthur had also installed a tracking device into the glasses so they could pinpoint the recruits’ exact locations rather than just guessing based off the feed. As of right now, they were all within a few kilometer radius: Austin, Nick, Max, and James were near the Arc de Triomphe; Jack, Andrew, and Harry were by the Eiffel Tower, and Blair was heading in the direction of Norte-Dame. Paris had been lucky during V-Day, in that they hadn’t experienced as much structural damage as other major cities. From the feed Roxy was getting, it had seemed that most of the main attractions had remained intact, with a bit of exception being the Arc de Triomphe, which had been hit by numerous cars, requiring tours to be cancelled as repair crews needed to fix the base of the Arc. Other than that though, things in Paris seemed to be okay.

Roxy had just been enjoying the sights of Paris for the last few hours, because there had been nothing to do on her end of command, and she had no one to talk to. As she stifled a yawn, though, she heard some muffled sounds coming for one of the feeds. Looking from one monitor to the next, she looked for any signs that the recruits were in danger, but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. The sounds stopped for a minute, but just as Roxy was about to sit back in her chair, clear words came through the speaker system.

“Hello? Is anybody there?” There was a brief pause, and then a more muffled: “it feels so weird talking to your glasses.” It was Blair, and Roxy let of a sigh of relief at hearing her voice. Since Roxy could see her walking around town and whatnot, she knew she had to of been okay, but her voice reassured Roxy.

“Blair? It’s Roxy. Are you alright?” Her eyes focused on Blair’s feed and saw that she was approaching Notre-Dame. It looked massive and absolutely breath-taking that early in the morning.

“Rox, hey. What time is it?” She could hear Blair’s teeth chatter a bit from the cold and her lack of real clothes, but she knew as much as Blair did that she could not put on her uniform until she was back on English soil. After the cars were stolen, Roxy and Eggsy had listened in on French police calls, and heard Damien call in his three cars. The police were out looking for the recruits, but the only one that they had a real description of was Blair. And even what they did have of her wasn’t a lot. Roxy was able to intercept a police sketch of her, and Blair somehow got lucky in that either Damien didn’t describe her very well or the sketch artist was horrible. The most recognizable thing that was reported of all of the recruits was their matching jumpers, and as far as Roxy could tell, only Blair had gotten enough money to buy something to change into.

“It is 2:50, your time, Blair. 3:50 GMT.”

“Thanks Roxy,” there was a slight pause, and then Blair asked: “Hey, are you seeing what I’m seeing?” Her feed showed the vertical profile of Notre-Dame and the surrounding area was completely deserted.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it? I guess you guys are lucky in the sense that you got dropped somewhere cool, yeah?” Arthur hadn’t exactly laid out how much they were able to take to the recruits, but she didn’t think acknowledging the beauty of a cathedral could break any potential rules.

“Yeah, very cool. Well, thanks for the time Rox, I won’t keep you.” Roxy got the feeling that Blair wanted to talk more, but wasn’t sure of the rules either, so she stuck with a simple “good night.” After her brief talk with Blair, Roxy realized how exhausted she was as well. She had just laid her head down on the table in front of her, but jolted back up instantly with she heard Eggsy shifting on the floor behind her.

“How long ‘ave I been asleep?” He groaned from the floor. Roxy suppressed a laugh when she turned to face him. His hair was a complete mess, there was a small line of drool on his cheek and a hand print on his face since he was using his hands as a pillow. When he saw her smile, he turned his face away, wiped off the drool and tried to pat his hair down, but there wasn’t much he could do for the hand print. “Oh shut it, Rox.”

“You were out for three hours, maybe? I don’t remember when you fell asleep.” Eggsy walked up to her, place a hand on her shoulder, and suggested that he take over for a while.

“You need to sleep too, yeah? Why don’t you go lie down for a few hours? Arthur said he’d be here by 7, and if you really want, I’ll come wake you when he gets here.” She smiled gratefully, and didn’t need much convincing to leave him in charge. Eggsy assumed the chair at command and realized that it was his first time really being in charge, and he like it. _Quite a lot, actually. I mean, it may be 4 in the morning and there isn’t anything to do, but I feel powerful._

Eggsy checked in on his candidate first, and saw that Andrew was on a field opposite of the Eiffel Tower. Eggsy had never been to Paris before, hell, he had never left the country before, but he had heard some very nice things about Paris. He knew from pictures that the Eiffel Tower had a big green patch of lawn that was always filled with tourists and school children having picnics across from it, and he hoped that one day he could take his mum and Daisy there. Daisy would love it, and his mum would cry because she had always wanted to go, but Dean would never let her. But now Dean was in prison, thanks to Harry, and his mum and sister were free.

There were two major things that Eggsy didn’t like when it came to being a Kingsman: the fact that he had to lie to his mum every time she asked him anything related to work, especially since they were in such a good place now that he had just wanted to start their relationship over, forgetting all of the bad things that had happened to them, and the fact that he didn’t get to spend much time with Daisy as she was growing up. He had practically raised her, and now, sometimes he didn’t see her for weeks on end. It was hard, but he was making money and his mum was finally happy. He couldn’t throw it away, and he didn’t necessarily want to.

Being the next Galahad had been the most exciting adventure of his life. He wouldn’t trade it for the world. Sure, it was hard sometimes and things got messy and he was missing his family, but he got to do some real good. He was, hopefully, making Harry and his father proud. And that was worth it.

Being Galahad also gave him the opportunity to be someone else’s Harry. In a sense, Andrew was very much like him. He came from a poorer part of town, lost his mom to an overdose, and had a deadbeat dad. Unlike Eggsy though, when he first spotted Andrew, he was already trying to make a better life for himself. He was lucky and had gotten a job in a nice restaurant and was hoping to move his way up to a management position. He had been lucky until the day after he had bussed Eggsy’s family’s table, when he witnessed a waitress he was working with was being sexually harassed by the boss’s son. When Eggsy passed the restaurant the next day on his way to work, he saw Andrew get himself into a fight after the boss’s son tried to corner the waitress and had felt her up.

Eggsy watched from a distance as Andrew’s boss arrived and fired him on the spot. Before leaving, Andrew checked on the girl and told her to call him if she had any more problems with the prick. As everyone else had gone inside the restaurant, Andrew stayed in front and smoked a cigarette, and that’s when Eggsy approached him, offering him something better than what the restaurant business had to offer.

Eggsy was very fond of Andrew and desperately wanted him to make it until the end. He tried to emulate his relationship with Harry into his and Andrew’s mentorship, but he knew he wasn’t doing it justice. But Andrew seemed to be thriving, and Eggsy was glad that they were proving themselves.

Eggsy continued to stare at Andrew’s screen for a while and determined that he must have fallen asleep since his feed had not moved in the few minutes he had been watching. Glancing around the table, Eggsy found Roxy’s notes, listing the members of each group and their movements and double checked them against the feed. The trio had agreed earlier in the day that keeping track of group members and how they reacted in this setting was incredibly important to pay attention to as it gave them a better sense of who could work together under this kind of pressure.

Their mission and the pressure they were subsequently put under could have been a lot worse. They could have been left in a violent country, or with assassins on their tales, or had a 24 hour window rather than the 48 one they had received. But Eggsy knew that they were all freaked out a bit, and he most definitely would have been too. Only Blair spoke a bit of French, they were being chased by the police, and none of them know the exact location of the mansion. And time was ticking away.

Making the rounds on the feed again, Eggsy stopped at Blair’s feed. She wasn’t asleep, because she occasionally turned her head and examined things off in the distance that he couldn’t make out, but she was resting, which was almost as good. She had to have been the most surprising recruit of the bunch, but he should have expected nothing less from Roxy. Roxy was one of the strongest people he had ever met, and he knew that the first time he had seen her. Blair was no different. She was a fierce competitor and took the old Kingsman traditions with a grain of salt, just like Roxy. They were both competing to prove that they have what it takes to be in this field, and Eggsy has noticed that despite the fact that Roxy blew up one of Valentine’s freakin’ satellites, there were still older agents that didn’t take her seriously. He had no doubt that when Blair joined them ( _if, Eggsy, if Blair joins us_ ), that she would face the same thing. Eggsy, Roxy, and their recruits were the underdogs, based simply on their backgrounds and genders, but if they kept recruiting people that everyone thought were going to fail, then maybe they could finally bring Kingsman into the 21st century.

Eggsy got carried away with his vision for the next generation of Kingsman, and between watching the monitors and taking notes on how they could spice up the Kingsman, time flew by. So much so, that when Arthur walked in at 7 on the dot, Eggsy could have sworn that he was at least two hours early. Arthur took once glance at Eggsy’s workstation, which was cluttered by crumpled up papers and half-drunk cups of tea, and sighed, not in annoyance, and in relief. Arthur, as much as he appreciated his time to sleep, felt like he needed to be here with Eggsy and Roxy. This, them, the Kingsman mansion – was his home.  

“Where is Roxy?” Arthur asked Eggsy as he took his empty cups of tea and moved them to a table near the door. Eggsy got out of Arthur’s seat, and began walking over to the door.

“Oh, I told her to go get a few hours of sleep. But I promised to wake her when you got back...” He grabbed the cups as he stood by the door, waiting for permission to leave, and Arthur gave it to him. Arthur put his briefcase down on the chair as he began sorting through Eggsy’s papers. He noticed that some of them detailed the recruits’ movements and groups, so he put those aside, but most of the papers were filled with small scribbles describing ways to better the Kingsman. Reading the page on the top, he saw that Eggsy thought they needed to focus more on inter-branch bonding and updating training methods to tailor to each Kingsman’s weakness. There were notes in the margins next to the inter-branch bonding: “Show everyone that Roxy is worthy of this position, and not just some girl with a rich family’s backing.” Blair’s name was included as well, but had a question mark next to it. Reading through some more of the pages, Arthur saw numerous suggestions on how to make them even better at what they do, and he agreed with a lot of them. _This behavior is something I would expect an Arthur to carry out. Huh. Maybe Eggsy could be Arthur one day..._

Arthur was so engrossed in Eggsy’s notes that he didn’t hear the door open or hear his two youngest agents walk in until they were right in front of him. Eggsy made a move to take the papers from Arthur, clearly embarrassed that Arthur had read through his stupid plans, but Arthur looked at him with an expression Eggsy hadn’t seen before. It was a mixture of pride and _was that hope?_ , and Eggsy’s cheeks reddened more at the thought of Arthur liking his suggestions. Arthur handed the papers back to Eggsy then, and told him that once they found their new recruits, that he and Eggsy should talk about making some changes to the organization. Eggsy bowed his head, hiding his smile, but Roxy’s was big enough for both of them. They had both had many conversations over the past few months about how they would change Kingsman had they gotten the chance, and Eggsy was just offered an opportunity to do what they had talked about since meeting.

Each of them was brought back to the real world when they heard police sirens in the background. Frantically looking to the monitors, they tried to spot where the noise was coming from, and then they saw two police cars zoom across monitors 1 and 2, which showed Nick, Max, Austin, and James’s views of the city. Arthur, Eggsy, and Roxy held their breaths, waiting to see if they were about to get arrested. It wasn’t like they couldn’t get them out of whatever trouble they had gotten themselves into with the cars, but it would most likely mean that none of them would make it back in time and that Kingsman might have to admit to the French police that they were administering a test on French soil, and things would then just get complicated. They didn’t have the best relationship with the French government or the Kingsman branch over there, and they really didn’t want to have to get into it.

The boys were frozen, too terrified to move in case they drew attention for themselves. And there was a visible shaking in the feed as each took a breath, indicating that the cars had driven past them. A minute later, an ambulance drove past them, lights and all, and they knew that it was not them the police were after. Command found out soon afterwards that James had been the one to press the button on his glasses, alerting them to the commotion that was going on, and they heard an argument start between the four boys.

“Guys, we _have to_ find some way to make some money today or otherwise we will never get home. We need train or bus tickets, and we need them within the next couple of hours. I think we should go offer to work at a bakery for a bit of pay. I heard that some of the places down here are always looking for extra help,” James explained. “Honestly, I’d feel much better if we were on a train by later today. There is no way we can spend tonight here.”

“James, do you think that we _don’t_ fucking know that?! _Jesus_ , none of us want to be here, but working for the money is going to take way too long, especially for a last minute ticket on a train. No, we need to find another way.” The city was still asleep, so Austin had to keep his voice down, but the anger came through loud and clear.

“What other way, Austin?” James lowered his voice before adding: “The police are probably already looking for us. There’s no fucking way I’m doing something else to draw their attention. We need to make the money ourselves.” Nick and Max seemed to be divided on the way of getting home: they were more terrified of the police finding them than Austin was, but the possibility of making enough money to get home within the next 10 or 12 hours was unrealistic.

“Then go, James! Go and make your money and we’ll go get on the fucking train. Good luck getting home,” Austin began to walk away from James and the Arc de Triomphe, he feed showing a deserted street filled with pricy shops. He turned back around though when there was a lack of footsteps following him. “Nick! Max! Let’s move it. As James helpfully pointed out, we don’t have a ton of time to figure this out.” And just like that, three groups became four.

“James is right in that they shouldn’t draw any more attention to themselves, but Austin is right to be skeptical in being able to earn enough cash for tickets,” Arthur commented as Roxy wrote the group developments down.

“20 pounds on James,” Eggsy threw out. Roxy and Arthur just stared at him. “What? The past couple of hours ‘ave been boring. I’m just makin’ it interestin’.”

“Fine, I’ll take that bet,” Arthur said, sticking out his hand for Eggsy to shake. Eggsy grinned before extending his own hand.

“Good man, Arthur. Rox? What ‘bout you?”

“I’m going to go with Arthur on this one. I think Austin is going to find some way to make it back.” Eggsy grabbed a new sheet of paper and wrote down their bets.

“No takin’ it back then. I got 20 on James, Rox has 20 on Austin, and Arthur, are you just saying that James won’t make it or that Austin will instead?” Arthur thought about that for a second, before turning to the feed to watch the four groups.

“Can I put 20 on both James and Austin making it? Because that’s what going to happen.” Eggsy smirked and wrote it down.

“Somebody’s a bit cocky, ain’t ya?” His tone was mocking, and Arthur felt his lips curve into a rare early morning smile.

“I’ve been doing this for a while, Eggsy, I know who is going to make it.” Roxy giggled at the two and suggested they turn their attention back to the task at hand.


	11. Chapter 11

            Blair hadn’t sleep last night, instead trying to block the wind using Notre-Dame’s high walls for protection. There was something very surreal and calming about sitting outside one of the most famous cathedrals in the world, in one of the most beautiful cities she had ever seen when it seemed like she was the only person alive in that moment. As incredible as it all was, Blair couldn’t risk staying calm for that long.

            Before she settled down for the night, she trekked her way through the bustling city to the train station where she bought the first available ticket on Saturday morning. Of the 180 euros she had left after buying new clothes, she spent 172 on a one way train ticket to St. Pancras International in London. With her 8 euros, her backpack hiding her uniform, and her glasses, she found her way back to Paris Gare Du Nord station at 9:00 to wait for her 11:45 train. She was going incredibly early, she knew, but with nothing else to do, she had nothing to lose.

            Walking along the streets, past dozens of bakeries, her stomach grumbled, reminding her that she hadn’t eaten anything in over 24 hours. Blair had been pushing the thoughts of food out of her mind since late last night, but it was much easier back then when the smell of freshly baked bread hadn’t filled the air. She had some money left, but wanted to save it in case something happened. _It’s only 8 euros, Blair, it’s not going to save you in whatever situation you are constructing in your head._ She just couldn’t do it. So she put her head down, walked faster, and told her stomach to shut the fuck up.

            Turning down the streets she remembered from last night, she let her mind wander to the others: had any other them been caught by the police, were they already on their way back to London, had they had any breakfast? She hoped they were all having as hard of a time as she was, but there was no way to be certain. What would happen if they all made it back to the mansion in time? Would anyone go home or would they start making the tasks even harder until they cracked? The longer Blair thought about her hopeful return, she began to wonder how many of them were actually going to be offered a spot. She had assumed that it was going to be at least one American and one Brit, but Arthur had never actually told them. Shouldn’t he have told them by now? _Maybe he doesn’t want you to know so you don’t get too comfortable._

            Even with a few wrong turns due to her not paying attention, Blair made it to the train station a little before 10:00. Her few experiences with train stations in London did not prepare her for what she saw. There were vendors everywhere, trying to scam travelers into buying fake phone cards or signing some petition. The homeless filled the place up until the immigration lines and past that point, there seemed to be hundreds of travelers looking for the right platform, standing in lines for public toilets, and requesting information from small kiosks. Blair took a free map of the city, found an unoccupied corner, and made herself look busy while she decided what to do. Her train wasn’t even up on the departure board yet, so she most likely wouldn’t be allowed through immigration for a while longer, but she was desperate to get through as quickly as possible.

            Going through immigration was the part that was going to scare her the most, especially after what happened yesterday with the cars. She didn’t know if three stolen vehicles headed to Paris would draw the attention of immigration officers, but it very well could if the police thought they were trying to flee the country, which they were. She would also have to let her bag go through a scanner, and her uniform was in it. Was it better to leave it in there or get rid of it? _Once you get to London, you can try and get into your flat and change. Maybe. Who knows if the flat is still yours? You haven’t paid for it since training began. Just get rid of the uniform before you go through immigration._

            Blair pretended like she had just stopped in the station to get a map, and headed right back outside. Going north of the train station, she found a small café that was mainly empty and headed for the restroom in the back. She hear someone yell something in French and she froze. Slowly turning around, she saw a barista staring at her.

            “English?” The girl had asked, and Blair nodded her head slightly. “You have to buy something to use the bathroom.” _Figures._

            “May I use the bathroom first, and then I will buy something? I really have to go,” Blair said, twisting her legs for emphasis. The girl sighed, but pointed her hand towards the bathroom. “Thank you! I’ll be right back.” She found the small bathroom in the back, and thanked her lucky stars that it was a single toilet. Locking the door behind her, Blair pulled the uniform out of her bag, wrapped it up in paper towel to conceal it better in the trash bag, and then proceeded to cover it up with even more paper towel. When she was satisfied with her work, she flushed the toilet, washed her hands, and continued her charade. Smiling gratefully to the barista, she ordered the cheapest thing on the menu, a croissant, and took a set in the otherwise empty place.

            Blair noticed the girl would glace over at her every so often, but she thought it was more curiosity than anything else. She tried to focus her attention on the croissant in front of her, savoring every single bite, knowing that she probably wouldn’t have anything else for a while. Pulling out the map in her now nearly-empty backpack, she hoped she had got the barista to believe that she was just entering town in case she found the uniform stuffed in the garbage before Blair was able to leave the city.

            “Do you need help finding something?” Blair heard from the counter.

            “Oh, thanks, but I think I’ve got it figured out. I’m headed to Versailles today, and I... well... yeah, I know where I’m going. I think. Getting lost is the fun part, though, right?” The girl shrugged her shoulders in response, but Blair thought she had past for a newbie tourist. “Thanks for the offer though, and for letting me use the bathroom before I bought something. Have a good day,” she continued before slowly exiting the café, and turning back towards the train station. Blair heard a church bell chiming in the distance, and counting the chimes, she knew she had an hour until her train left.

            She reentered the train station just then, looked around, and found the shortest immigration line. She needed to look normal, so after she retrieved her passport for her backpack, she turned to her neighbor and struck up a conversation about how she thought the Chunnel was so cool. Surprisingly enough, the man chatted with her about how the Chunnel was a travelling miracle and then wished her a safe journey to wherever she was going. She watched as he made it through easily enough and then put his bag on the conveyer belt for inspection. He was fine. He had nothing to hide. _And neither do you, Blair. Remember that and keep your cool._ The woman at the desk looked as if she’d rather be anywhere but the train station, so maybe she wouldn’t even pay much attention to Blair. Suddenly, she was being escorted to the desk and the woman held out her hand for her passport.

            “Here you go,” Blair said as she pushed the passport through the small opening on the bottom of a glass window. The woman flipped open the passport, looked at her name and picture, and then went to the visa section.

            “Lily, why were you in Paris?” She had asked. _Quick, Blair, think of something._

            “Oh, I’ve always wanted to come here. And a few weeks ago, I had a fight with my parents, so I decided to get anyway and come here. It was a perfect getaway, but it’s time for me to go back home,” she had explained. The woman too one look at her and saw that she only had a rather empty looking backpack to her name.

            “That’s all you brought with you?” She had pointed to the backpack, a bit skeptical.

            “Yeah, I’ve always been told to travel light. And I wanted to give a nice gift to some homeless children I found down by the river, so I gave them the clothes I had brought so they could stay warm.” _You are so going to hell. Donate all of your clothes when you get back to make up for that total lie._

            “Uh-huh. Alright, here’s that back,” she slammed the stamp down before sliding it back through the mirror, “have a safe trip back home.” Blair nodded in thanks and proceeded to the bag check. Taking off the backpack, she place the passport back in its pocket near her ticket and then placed the bag in a tray to be scanned. She began to take off her glasses, accidently pressing the button on the side, before figuring that they scanned thousands of people a day and at least half of them had to have glasses, so it was probably an unnecessary step.

            Her bag passed through the scanner and as far as she could tell, there was no problem. Blair waited her turn then to walk through the metal scanner. When she had approached it, it began buzzing immediately. A guard then stepped up to her and asked if she had taken everything out of her pockets. She thought she did, but she found a single coin. Apologizing to the guard, she handed the coin over and walked back through the detector, not drawing any more attention to herself. A different guard held up her bag at the end of the conveyor belt, and she took it from him with a grin. She had made it – she was going back home. _Told you there would be nothing to worry about_ , her subconscious whispered.

            There were clocks everywhere near the platforms, and Blair was so thankful. It was 11:15 and she should boarding within a few minutes. Finding her train number on the departure board, she went over to platform 4, and glanced around at everyone else waiting for that particular train. She hadn’t seen any of the boys since yesterday, and it looked like none of them were going to be on this train. She then shifted over to normal people watching, which had become even more interesting since she had started training to become a Kingsman. The man to her right, for example, had at least two different dogs as there were two different color furs on his pant legs. The woman to her left, she had seen while entering the station, and she seemed to be saying goodbye to a boyfriend before going through immigration, but now here she was, with a wedding ring on that she kept twisting around her small finger.

            Blair then saw a guy, around her age, completely panicked. He was carrying his phone in his right hand, looking like he just got off of an important call, and tapped a man in uniform on the shoulder with his left. She strained to hear what he was saying to the man she thought was likely to be the conductor.

            “Yes, sir, I understand your concern. Yes, that is correct: there is a scheduled strike for this station beginning at noon. As long as everyone boards this train on time and we leave on time, we will get out just fine. If the station tries to slow our boarding process down, then the next trains won’t leave until morning,” the conductor started to walk away, but several other travelers stopped him after hearing about the workers’ strike. “If you would just please listen, everyone, thank you,” he shouted as the crowd gathered. “We will leave on time if you all board quickly and orderly. Please, we will start boarding now. Carriages 1 through 4, you’re up front. Carriages 5 through 8, you’re in the back. Please everyone, in an orderly fashion!”

            Blair stood immediately, heading for carriage 6. _This cannot be happening to me. If all of the trains stop running until morning, I will never make it back to the mansion by noon. This train has to leave and it has to leave now._ But it was, and Blair found herself pushing through the crowds to get to her seat. As she made her way down the same aisle of people complaining on not being able to leave today, Blair muttered “fuck me” continuously. All she wanted was a pair of seats to herself and for this fucking train to leave, but neither of those were looking to be realistic hopes. The train was absolutely packed, and when she found her seat, she saw that, while she lucked out getting the window seat, she had a neighbor. It was the guy that had started the panic.

            “Excuse me, I think I have the seat next to you,” Blair said as she stood slightly in front of their row, holding up the people behind her. The guy had stepped out into the aisle to allow her in, and since she didn’t have anything in her backpack, she shoved in under the seat in front of her rather than stowing it above them. Her neighbor sat back down and extended his hand.

            “I’m John,” he offered. Blair took his hand and introduced herself as Lily. “You from the UK?”

            “Yeah, born and raised. How about you?” She took a moment to study him. He was definitely a student, she decided. He had style, more than she could say for herself in her pink mesh shorts and “I <3 Paris” shirt. He was wearing skinny jeans, with a red plaid button down, and a gray beanie. He seemed nice, and quite talkative, and she honestly didn’t want to talk the whole way home.

            “Mom lives in Paris, dad in London, so I guess I grew up in both. But I go to Regent’s University in London, so that’s more home for me.” _College guy! Knew it._ “Are you still in school?”

            “Uh, no. I went to university in the states and graduated a few months ago.” John nodded in acknowledgement and began to pull out a laptop from his bag.

            “God, I hope this train gets out of here. I really need to get home.” Blair mumbled, agreeing with him. Glancing over at his laptop, she saw he had connected to the free wifi and began looking at the train schedule for tomorrow. The thought of not making it back killed her and she let her head hit the chair in frustration. “What or who are you trying to get back to?”

            “My family,” she said automatically. It was true, in a sense. John was waiting for her to continue, and then she got an idea. “Yeah, my parents are sort of pricks and moved while I was on vacation in France. They sent me the address, but my phone got stolen and they haven’t been answering any of my calls over pay phones. So I only know the general area. And they want me there tomorrow afternoon for a luncheon,” she rolled her eyes for affect and was about to continue when they heard the captain speaking over the communication system.

            “Ladies and gentlemen, it is currently 11:52 and we have been cleared to leave. Looks like you can all keep your appointments back in London. Our expected arrival time is 1:45 GMT. I will update you as any changes occur.” There was a collective sigh of relief and even a few people clapped within the carriage.

            “Well, it looks like I don’t need to look up train tickets for tomorrow. You said you know the general area of your new place? Want to use my laptop? See if you can get a better idea of where they might have gone? I can pull up Google Maps for you...” _Yes, John, yes._

            “That’s very kind of you, John. Thank you so much. Honestly, my parents only want me at this luncheon to find me a suitor. They are absolutely unbelievable.” John handed the laptop over to her and she rested it on her knees. “This is really kind of you.”

            “It’s the least I can do for a pretty girl like you. And I think you should just tell your parents that you can find your own suitor. You’d think after V-Day, parents that still had their kids would realize that that is not what’s important.” _Was he flirting? I think he was._ Blair forgot the fact that her glasses were two way until she had heard something, like a ceramic cup, fall to the ground and she heard Eggsy start to swear. They had been so quiet up until now that she forgot they were watching her every move and listening to her every conversation during the two hour window of communication after pressing the button.

            She started off by locating the Kingsman’s store front, hoping that if she went north, she’d find a huge mansion surrounded by a forest. _Alright, how long were you underground that first day? Maybe a half an hour? Okay. Approximately how fast were you going? How the fuck am I supposed to know that?_ Blair screwed around with the map, zooming in and out of the city. Picking a place 20 kilometers away. Then moving to 50. And the 100, and nearly everything in between. But all she found was farmland. Lots and lots of farmland. _No, there must be another way to figure this out. They knew that we don’t know where this place is, that’s the whole point of Kingsman being a secret organization. No, what’s one place they can count us all going to? Kingsman Tailors. It can’t be that simple, but that’s all I’ve got._

Shutting out of the browser, she handed the laptop back to John. He asked if she had found what she was looking for, and she shook her head “no,” _but maybe I wasn’t supposed to find it._ She asked him for the time then, and realized that she still had a while on this train with him. And while he was very nice, she didn’t want to spend the rest of the trip talking to him, so she leaned her head against the small pillow-like cushion on the side of her chair and watched the small cities outside of Paris fall away and turn into farms and then into nothing as they entered the Chunnel.

            It was in the dark of the Chunnel that Blair had fallen asleep. Before allowing it to happen though, she had to rationalize it. _I haven’t slept in over 24 hours. I am on a very packed train so it is unlikely that anything will happen that I need to be aware of. If something does happen, and it’s really bad, Arthur will wake me up._ It was in that last half of her journey home, though that she missed Austin walk past her row. As he walked by, he had noticed her, but without her jumper and having her face turned into the chair, he couldn’t be sure it was her, and he couldn’t afford to stick around.

            After separating from James earlier that morning, Austin came up with a plan to get them enough money: they were going to steal purses from one of the more expensive stores they had past leaving James, and then sell them to a vendor. The plan was going well, until Nick and Max nearly lost it from nerves in the store and completely backed out. They told Austin that they were going to go and find James and see if they could get money that way. Austin told them to fuck off, and that’d he get back home by himself.

            The alarms of course went off when he took the purse, and he ran, faster than he ever had before, and he had to use back alleys and had to resort to hiding in a dumpster before he was able to get away from them. Finding a vendor was harder than he expected, because most of them thought that it was stolen, but Austin assured them that it was not. Finally, he got someone to give him 250 euros for it, and he ran to the train station and found that a strike was about to occur and that every train before the strike was sold out. He paced the street outside the station, thinking of what to do, when a man approached him. The old man said that he had a ticket to London that he was willing to sell it if Austin wanted it - said something came up and he wasn’t able to return to London as soon as he had hoped. Austin gave him all of the money he had, only to discover that his ticket was a fake, so now he was hiding from the ticket check making the rounds until they made it to London. And by the sound of it, he didn’t have much longer to hide.

            “Ladies and gentlemen, this is your conductor again. We will be arriving at St. Pancras International in just under 10 minutes, so please collect your belongings and get ready to exit the train. We hope you have a good time in London.” Coming up on his left was a bathroom, and Austin ran into it to wait the rest of the ride out. Back in carriage 6, John gently nudged Blair’s shoulder, letting her know that they were almost to London.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I lied a bit. Just a little bit. The mission is going to extend into another chapter, because I don't want to make each of these even longer than they already are. But the next chapter will be fun as we'll get to see Blair and Austin duke it out in London. Hope you guys enjoyed it!


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is probably one of my favorite chapters so far, and I really hope you guys like it. Also, just to let you all know, this weekend is going to be very busy for me, so I will try to update as soon as I can, but I probably won’t be getting a chapter a day out like I have been. Hope you guys understand and that you enjoy Chapter 12!

It was 2:00 on a Saturday in London, and everything was different. The city had rebuilt itself, and the people, well the people were trying to rebuild themselves too. It was Blair’s first time in the city in two months, and while the air still hung heavy with grief, there was a sense of hope that accommodated it. People were out – children were out, playing in fields and on swings sets. Markets had reopened and monuments to those they lost were being erected in public squares. The memory of V-Day would forever be a part of the fabric of society, but the people were determined to learn and move on.

The whole time Blair had been at the Kingsman mansion, she tried not to think about having to come back and living a normal life, because nothing was normal now. But as she ran through the crowds at the Piccadilly Circus tube stop and down Regent’s Street to Savile Road, she felt like maybe it would be okay if she had to come back. There was still mourning and distressed families, not believing that their loved ones had been taken from them, but the world was recovering, slowly but surely. And if they could, then so could she. But she still had the opportunity to make something of herself here, and she be damned if she’d let it go willingly.

Her pace quickened, refusing to let herself get winded, as she turned onto Vigo Street. Taking the first right, she saw the familiar gold print of the Kingsman logo on the window, as she smiled to herself. It was such a beautiful sight, she realized. She was safe here, safe from the French police, safe from her parents’ murderers, safe from the world that was still able to scare her. Blair walked the last few steps, composing herself before she pushed open the glass door and gave a small wave to the man at the counter. It was the same man that she had seen when Roxy had brought her here, and he seemed to remember her as well.

“Ms. Asher, it’s nice to see you,” he bowed his head at her. Thanking him, she asked if the room on her left was available. “It’s all your’s.”

“Thank you,” she breathed out, pushing the fitting room door open. It was the same room she had entered with Roxy, and she had no idea if it would work for her. All Roxy had done to get the room to move was allowed the mirror to scan her hand, so Blair lifted hers to approximately the same spot. The red light appeared, a good sign, and scanned her hand. As it completed the scan, Blair’s nerves increased, waiting to see if she would be granted access. If she was, she’d would make it back to the mansion nearly 20 hours early, and she could eat and sleep in her own bed, and see Roxy, Eggsy, and Arthur. She kept her hand to the mirror, waiting to be taken down once the scan hand completed, but nothing happened. Trying it again, she had the same result, which was nothing. She watched as her face faltered in the mirror, before giving her other hand a go. She knew that it wasn’t going to be this easy.

Leaning forward, she rested her head against the mirror, the cold surface surprisingly soothing. _There has to be something else_ , she thought. However she was going to get to the mansion depended on the shop that much she knew. That’s all she knew, really.She tried to think back to every conversation she had with anyone in the Kingsman and to every conversation she had eavesdropped. Nothing gave her any clue as to where the mansion was. Feeling dejected, she left the fitting room, and looked around the rest of the shop. The man at the counter had stopped his work and watched her. She met his gaze, but she knew that if he worked for Kingsman, he wouldn’t tell her what she needed to know, so she asked a simple question instead.

“Are all of the fitting rooms free?” He gave her a small nod, and she thought she had seen his lip curve ever so slightly into a small smile. She crossed the room and opened the door furthest to the back of the shop. Blair didn’t know what she was looking for, but in one of these fitting rooms took her to the mansion, then surely the other rooms did something. _Right?_ She tried the mirror scan again, and when nothing happened, she slowly turned about the room, looking for anything out of place. She moved hanging pictures, tugged at the coats on the walls, and when she had turned the place over, she moved onto the next room. It looked nearly identical to the previous one, but she tried everything over again and looked for new clues. She stomped on the floor and knocked on the walls to see if there was a trap door somewhere, she felt around the corners of the carpet to see if it would pull up, and then tried to see if the mirror was moveable. No luck.

She exited the third fitting room, crossing the floor again, and saw the man still watching her. _This is my last hope._ She tried the mirror, moved the paintings, felt around the carpet, and found nothing. Trying to remember any CSI type show her friends made her watch back in the states, she tried all of their tricks: she brushed her hands over the top of the shelves, swept the room for finger prints, and looked for any signs of wear and tear on the fixtures and décor. She didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

Leaning her back against the mirror, Blair let herself slide down it until she was sitting on the floor, facing the rest of the room. She had done everything she could think of, and it still wasn’t enough. She wasn’t going to make it past this round. She wasn’t going to make it back to the mansion. There were no other clues or hints or ideas and Blair felt done. She felt exhausted. How was she expected to get back to a place that no one knew existed? How was she expected to not give up? In real life, walls don’t drop, revealing a secret tube that only had one stop. In real life, she wasn’t the heroine, she was an extra. Whatever Roxy saw in her has disappeared as quickly as it had come.

Blair just wanted to go back to her apartment and forget all of this ever happened. Maybe she’d find a real job one day and save up the money to fix up her apartment. Maybe she could even buy it from the landlord. She didn’t know if that was allowed, but that’s what she wanted. She wanted to make that her new home. She’d tear out the small kitchen and replace it with cherry wood cabinets and new appliances. She’d buy herself a big screen TV and she’d tear down the fading and peeling wallpaper and paint the damn place. She’d make it a home she was proud of, a home that she wanted. Maybe one day she’d...

Wallpaper. The fitting room was covered in wallpaper, not paint. _What if...?_ Pushing herself up from the floor, she looked for a crease in the paper, a line in the molding, anything. Halfway around the room, she first found the crease in the wallpaper and as she followed it down, she found a line running down the wood paneling. It was faint, incredibly so, but it was there. Next to the crease, she found a small end table holding pins and sewing instruments, but when she tried to move the table, she saw that it was nailed into the wall. _Every other piece of furniture that I have tried to move has moved. This... this has to mean something._

She looked at everything between the crease and the wall again. She played with the items on the table, moved all of the clothing off of the hooks, and felt along the wall looking for some way to move it. That’s when she noticed something she had missed the first time around: the color difference on the first hook as compared to the rest. Something had been touching the metal enough that it caused it to change color. _Hanging clothes wouldn’t be enough to change the color, neither would hanging belts or actual hangers. But skin... skin carries chemicals that can cause the color of metal to change._

Lifting her hand to the first hook, Blair inhaled deeply, and placed her index finger right where the color was eroding and pulled down. She felt a small gust a wind rush past her and she felt the wall jolt a bit. Giving the wall a small push with her shoulder, she felt it move inwards, revealing a room filled with various weapons and gadgets. As she stepped into the threshold, she began to breathe again. Every weapon they had been trained on, plus many others, filled the room. To her left was the hand-crafted Kingsman pistol, the umbrella that Eggsy was so found of, shoes, glasses, and lighters. To her right, there were tablets, laptops, different types of cell phones, and briefcases. She couldn’t even imagine what the uses were for everyday items like pens, but there was a whole row of them visible as she moved further inside. Reaching the back of the room, she turned away from the umbrellas and faced the way she had come in. _Something in here has to be of use to me._ And that’s when Blair spotted a bowl of what looked like car keys.

Upon up-close examination, she found keys to at least 20 different cars. Pulling one from the pile, she examine the fob. She had no idea what kind of car this one had belonged to, but she had a feeling she would be finding out. On the bottom of the fob, under the car alarm on and off buttons, she found a symbol that showed a small car with three lines behind it, making it look like the car was driving off. Pressing that button, she exited the weapons room, closed the secret door, and stepped out into the store again.

“I was beginning to wonder if you had gotten lost,” said the man behind the counter. His eyes lowered to the key in her hand and then pointed outside. “Ms. Asher, I think the car you requested is outside. Good luck.” Blair wanted to hug the man, despite him being cryptic, but she stuck with a simple “thank you.” As she made her was to the front of the store and out the door, she noticed the car was a classic black cab, but there was no driver in the front seat. Walking up to the driver’s side, she tugged on the door handle, finding it already unlocked.

Blair sat down and inserted the key into the ignition, bringing the car to lift. The GPS system began to boot up, but instead of it bringing up a map of London, a message appeared, reading: “Password please.” _Password? What password? No one had said anything about a password. But they did say something about “words to live by,” didn’t they? Eggsy was always muttering it under his breath at the start of each training session. Shit. What as it? “Something not something?” Be a bit more specific, Blair, if you could. The first one was a part of a tube station name and the second one she hadn’t recognized. Oxfords! Yes, that was the first one... Oxfords not... brogues? That sounded right._ She used the key pad located near the stick and typed in each letter very carefully. _I hope this is right._

With the final “s”, she hit enter and the screen glowed with the word “welcome.” The word dissolved into a list of options, one of which included the word “headquarters.” Blair tapped the screen above that option and was brought to a second page asking for her mentor’s name. _Two step verification_ , Blair thought as she typed in Roxy’s name. The screen then asked if she would like to go to headquarters, and just as Blair was about to hit “yes,” the passenger door opened and a body flung itself into the seat.

“So, Blair, we heading to HQ? Yeah? Alright, let me hit that “yes” for you.” Blair swatted the hand away before it could bring up the route to HQ.

“Austin, get the fuck out of my car!” Blair yelled at the smiling boy to her left.

“Aw, c’mon Blair, there’s plenty of room in here for me and you’ve already got the heat going.” He tried grabbing his seatbelt, but Blair leaned her whole body across the car to open his door and attempt to kick him out.

“Just like there was enough room for me in your plan to steal Damien and his wife’s cars?! Austin, I swear to god, get the fuck out of my car and find your own!” She grunted, still trying to shove him out of the car.

“Blair, I did what I had to do –”

“You did what you had to do which involved getting me out of the picture, right? Well now I want you... out of... my picture!” She punched the side of his face, not causing any real damage, but just hard enough to throw him off his game, allowing Blair’s final shove to push him fully out of the car. She closed the door as he staggered up and locked it before he could get back in. Pressing “yes” as quickly as possible, her route showed up on the screen, and she hit the gas, leaving a pissed off Austin in front of the shop.

“That piece of shit, I hope it takes him just as long to get into the weapons room,” she huffed, slowing the car down a bit and following the route north, out of the city. The digital clock below the GPS read that it was a few minutes after 4:00 and the GPS was reading that her estimated time of arrival was 5:37. _In an hour and a half, I’ll be back – nearly 18 hours before the cut off. And I kicked Austin out of the car. That honestly feels a bit more rewarding right now._

From the first moment she had arrived in France, she had hated any farmland she saw, because it meant that she was too far away from returning, but as Blair drove through London and watched the road lead her into smaller and smaller towns, she couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief when she saw farms beginning to pop up. The one thing she knew about the location of the Kingsman mansion was that there was no sign of civilization within its immediate vicinity. So when the farmland turned into rolling hills and open fields, Blair felt her breathing catch in her throat – the excitement of what the mansion brought: clean clothes, warm showers, food, her family, her bed, and the chance at making it to the next round – was almost too much to handle. Blair had to tighten her grip on the steering wheel to bring herself back around to focusing on the road.

The GPS said she still had 15 minutes to go when the trees started to show up and thicken into a forest. She was so close, she could taste it. Blair followed the route down through the woods and when she had reached the end of her route, she hadn’t reached the mansion yet. She could see a clearing off in the distance, and figured that’s where she needed to go, but when she tried to drive the car past its end point, the car put itself in park. The screen switched back to message mode and told her that the rest of the route could not be completed by the vehicle. Instead, she was told to leave the keys in the ignition, and then press “reached destination” as she got out of the car. Not understanding what exactly was going on, she did what the car told her to do, and as she began to back away from the vehicle, she watched as it perfectly executed a three point turn by itself and then it drove away from her and the mansion.

“What the fuck?” Blair was left standing in the middle of a deserted road with no other choice but to head in the direction of the clearing. Within a few minutes of walking, the coldness of the evening began to settle in, and Blair found herself jogging to keep warm. _I seriously regret not going and checking my apartment for clothes now._ After jogging through the rest of the forest, she had reached the tree line and saw that the Kingsman mansion sat in front of her. Using every ounce of strength she had left, she sprinted across the lawn and the Kingsman target and threw open the mansion door.

The sight that greeted her eyes was the most wonderful thing she had seen. The normally empty foyer had tables stacked high with blankets, followed by a table set up with muffins, fruits, and water bottles. And at the end of that line, she saw Roxy, Eggsy, and Arthur waiting for her. Making her way down the tables, she wrapped herself in a blanket and gratefully took a chocolate muffin and bottle of water. Once she was standing in front of Roxy, Eggsy, and Arthur, all smiling, she noticed a table behind them that extended into a side hallway. There were eight chairs set up, having to be for the recruits if all of them showed, but as she set her stuff down and proceeded to hug Roxy and Eggsy and shake Arthur’s hand, she heard a voice call out to her.

“I was wonderin’ when you were gonna finally make it back.”


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for getting this chapter out so late, but I appreciate you guys being so patient. This weekend was absolutely crazy, but I am happy to report that chapter 13 is finished. So without further ado...

            Blair’s first instinct was to congratulate the boy standing in front of her for being the first back, but then she remembered what he had done – how he had left her – and she wanted to start throwing punches. She grabbed the water bottle she had just put down, stormed up closer to the boy, and threw it at him. It must have looked like she wasn’t trying too hard to really hurt him, because Eggsy and Roxy laughed as the bottle sailed by, easily allowing James to dodge out of the way. Feeling like that wasn’t enough, Blair stormed up to him, and punched him in the shoulder. She was weak, therefore, the punch was weak, but James seemed a bit hurt by the act anyways.

            “No, don’t you dare try to hug me, James. You and Andrew left me stranded at the house when you decided to go off and join Austin...” James continued to pull her in against her will, and eventually, she got tired of fighting back, letting herself be held by him while her arms remained at her sides. Finally pulling back, James got a good look at what she was wearing and pulled the blanket tighter around her.

            “Blair, I’m sorry. We didn’t want to but Austin dragged me into the car with him and as we were rushing out of the house, I heard Jack yell to Andrew that he didn’t stand a chance of getting away once the police came. We just did... I’m sorry, Blair, really.” Blair looked up at him then and saw how exhausted he looked as well, and gave up fighting with him. They all did what they needed to do, and she knew that deep down. It’s just that she had hoped that they would have done what they needed to do together. Andrew and James were her two closest confidants, and she didn’t enjoy being pitted against them. Accepting his apology, she wrapped her arms around him for another hug, and congratulated him for getting back so quickly.

            Blair and James hadn’t even noticed Eggsy, Roxy, and Arthur slipping out of the room to head back to command until they turned to ask if they could go back to their room and relax. Seeing no one there, they took their leave, immediately heading for the showers. Blair let herself use up all of the hot water, knowing that she and James were to only two people there, and she finally began to feel warm after over 24 cold hours in only a t-shirt and shorts. After changing into her pajamas, Blair exited the stall to find James sitting on his bed, head propped up against the wall, and staring at the ceiling.

            “James, you alright?” Turning his head to Blair, he gave a small, sad smile before resting his head back on the wall.

            “I’m just worried about Andrew. Clearly the three of us splitting up was never a part of the plan, and I was worried the whole time, but now you’re back and he’s not, and I’m just nervous. We weren’t supposed to spilt up...” _No, we weren’t._ Blair walked over to his bed, motioned for him to slide over and climbed in to sit next to him. She was worried about him too, even though in the back of her mind, she was still a bit pissed off.

            “I’m sure he’ll be fine. I bet you he’ll be the next one to walk in.” They sat like that for a while longer, before sleep took over. Shuffling to her bed, Blair glanced at the clock in the room: 10:24. It was getting late, and she hoped that Andrew had somewhere warm to sleep that night. It didn’t take long for Blair to fall asleep, but she had a hard time staying that way. Every minor noise the mansion made in the night woke Blair, and she would look around the room frantically, waiting for Andrew to walk through the door. At one point, the door did actually open and her heart stopped, but in walked Austin, who promptly fell into his bed and began snoring. She huffed in frustration and restlessness, and got out of bed to walk off some of her anxiety.

            She let her feet drag her where they may, and eventually, she found herself knocking on the door of command. She didn’t know why she was there or if she’d even be let in, but she knew that someone had to be awake inside and honestly, she just wanted to sit in the same room as someone that wasn’t sleeping. When she didn’t hear anything from the other side, she considered going back to her room and just forgetting the whole thing, but as she turned away, Arthur opened the door to her.

            “Blair, what are you doing up? You must be exhausted?”

            “I could say the same thing for you. I...uh... I don’t know why I am here. I just couldn’t sleep and was wondering if I could just stay in here with you for a bit. I promise, I won’t get in your way and I won’t bug you.” Her head fell slightly when she added: “I just don’t want to be alone right now.” Arthur’s face softened at her confession and he gestured for her to come in. She watched as he grabbed a small chair from the corner of the room and brought it right next to his. Blair had expected him to put the chair a bit behind him, so he could concentrate and work, and so she wouldn’t be seeing everything that was going on. He sensed that she was concerned, and turned to her and said that nothing she was going to see was confidential and that if either James or Andrew had come and asked to sit in command for the rest of the mission, he would have said yes. Finally sitting down, she wondered how true that actually was, but let it go.

            It was early in the morning, 4:13 to be exact, and all of the monitors showed the remaining recruits in the field. Max and Nick shared monitor 1, as it looked like they were in a group, and then the next three monitors were filled with Andrew’s, Harry’s, and Jack’s feeds. Blair recognized the train station in the background of Max’s and Nick’s feed, and it was clear that they were still in France. Jack was surprisingly awake, wondering around the Eiffel Tower, looking for something, but Blair didn’t know what. Andrew and Harry were both in dark places, but when Blair saw the map on the monitor, she saw that they were together and were moving at a decent speed. _They must be on a train or bus. Thank god._

            Arthur took the occasional note, but for the most part, the two remained quiet, watching the screens. Arthur offered Blair a cup of tea, which she happily accepted and sipped on for the next hour. Arthur seemed to be just as comfortable with Blair as she did with him, and it got her thinking about how he had known of her before she knew of him. She remembered how Arthur said that her father always used to tell stories of her at work and she knew that her parents always sent Christmas cards to work colleagues, so for years, Arthur had watched her grow up.

            “Arthur?” she whispered to him. “Did we ever met when I was younger? Did dad ever bring me around when I was a baby, when I wouldn’t have remembered any of this?” Arthur turned to look at her then, and the corners of his lips twitched just slightly. He stood up and walked over to one of the filing cabinets. He knew where whatever he was looking for was, and returned with a small photo in hand.

            “Some of the agents and I had visited your mother in the hospital right after you were born,” he answered, handing over the photo to Blair. It showed her mom resting in bed, with a grin and a small baby laying in her arms. Blair’s father sat, slightly off the bed, next to her, his hand resting on his wife’s arm and his eyes focused on the tiny bundle she was holding. Next to Jonathan, were Arthur and the man Blair recognized to be Harry. Two other men were standing on the other side of the bed, all looking thrilled and like they had just come from a mission. Everyone but Charlotte and Arthur supported multiple cuts on their faces and their suits were clearly ruffled from fighting. “Before he was allowed to hold you, your father had to go and get clean up, so you wouldn’t get sick or anything, and as the nurse patched him up and gave him a clean hospital gown, him and your mom let me hold you. I had never seen either of them so happy, and so terrified, as I had that day.”

            “Terrified?” Blair asked, looking back up at the man that had known her longer than anybody else she had left in this world. Arthur nodded his head, thinking about how exactly to respond.

            “They wanted nothing more than for you to be born happy and healthy, but your birth brought on the realization that suddenly, they would be bringing up an innocent child into a world where they could disappear for months on a mission, and god forbid that something awful happened on that mission. Your parents were each given a few months off to take care of you, but they also spent those months evaluating their career choices. They had a hard time of it – trying to decide what to do. They decided to stay with their jobs, but for the most part, they began taking much less dangerous missions so they could always come home to you. That worked pretty well, for a while, but sometimes things... go wrong.” _Yes, they do._ Blair got the sense that Arthur had been waiting for her to come and talk to him about her parents, and just as she felt her head flooding with questions she had had since discovering that her parents were keeping secrets from her, a pinging sound filled the room.

            “Is anyone there?” a voice asked, sounding a lot like Andrew.

            “Andrew, this is Arthur. Are you alright?” Blair felt her concern grow ten-fold when she heard the pause on the line. “Andrew?”

            “Yea, sorry. Things are... are okay at the moment. Can I get the time please?”

            “It’s 6:00 GTM, 7:00 in France. You have exactly 6 hours left, Andrew, good luck.” Arthur plainly knew that not everything was alright with whatever situation Andrew was in, but he didn’t press anymore, so Blair figured that it wasn’t life or death. _He’s going to be fine, Blair, he’ll walk in those doors before you know it._

            “Blair, I need you to do me a favor. I need you to go and wake up Roxy and Eggsy and send them to me. And then unfortunately, I am going to have to ask you to return to your dorm,” Blair’s face dropped immediately, not because she was being kicked out, but because that if she had to be kicked out, something serious was about to take place. Seeing her panic, Arthur continued, “Blair, everything is fine. I just need to talk with Eggsy and Roxy about some things, and since you are still in training, you cannot be here for it. Look, I know you’re worried about Andrew, but he is fine, alright? Now go on, and try to get some sleep, yeah?”

            “Yes, Arthur. Thank you for letting me stay for a while.” With a single nod, Arthur turned back to the monitor and Blair was dismissed. Turning down dark hallways that she now knew by heart, she found Roxy’s room first. Blair knocked lightly on the door, knowing that Roxy was a light sleeper. Sure enough, the door opened a second later and Roxy stood there, looking confused as to why Blair was standing outside her door at 6 in the morning.

            “Blair?” Roxy yawned, “are you alright?”

            “Fine Rox, but I was just with Arthur in command, and he asked me to come and get you and Eggsy. Said he needed to talk with you both. I’m not sure what’s going on,” Blair added when she saw Roxy’s face grow concerned.

            “Have you gotten Eggsy up yet?” Roxy asked, moving about the room to find her uniform.

            “No, you were closer. I’ll let you get changed, and I’ll go let him know. Arthur wants you guys to meet him in command.” Roxy thanked her candidate and closed the door as Blair turned to leave. Blair had never actually been to Eggsy’s room before, but Roxy had told her the general area weeks ago and she had seen Eggsy enter the room on a few occasions as she left the cafeteria to head back to the dorm, his room being on the way. She also knew that Eggsy and Roxy had their own Kingsman houses, out in London, but both of them had stuck to their small rooms within the mansion for the duration of the recruitment process.

            Approaching the door she had hoped was his, she knocked her knuckles on the wooden door, hoping that it was loud enough for him to hear, but not too loud as she didn’t want to annoy him. There was no answer though, and she found herself standing outside the door for 30 seconds before getting the courage to knock again. She didn’t know why it was, but every time she was alone with Eggsy, she got a weird feeling in her stomach, making her want to run away from the situation. She supposed it was because he being her superior, and of him, Roxy, and Arthur, it was definitely Eggsy that she knew the least. Alright, so that wasn’t entirely true. She knew quite a lot about him, hearing stories from Roxy and all, but Eggsy himself hadn’t told her much.

            She knew they both had a relatively similar background family-wise, and when she found out the truth a few weeks ago, she felt that she and Eggsy had a moment where they were bound by some invisible force, but they hadn’t talked about it since. Blair knew that Eggsy was something to her, but exactly what he was, still remained a bit unclear.

            Blair must have knocked a third time, because she was pulled out of her train of thought as the door opening, revealing a very tired and shirtless Eggsy. He opened his mouth to say something, but when his eyes focused and he saw that it was Blair, his face relaxed and then his mouth turned into a smirk when he saw that she was blushing due to his very toned torso being less than a foot away from her.

            “Mornin’ Blair. Somethin’ I can help you with?” Eggsy asked, leaning against his door frame and trying to stifle a laugh. Blair cheeks burned brighter and suddenly she wanted to die. Anything would do – one of those lighter grenades, Austin beating her to death, anything would be better than going through this.

            “Arthur needs you in command. Now,” Blair rushed out, trying to back away. She saw Eggsy’s face become a bit more serious, but when she turned to quickly walk away from him and towards her dorm, he let a laugh out and she felt herself smile a bit as rounded the corner to the dorm. Opening the door as quietly as possible, she saw that James and Austin had not moved since she had left the room a few hours before. As she climbed into her own bed, she tried to tone down her still blushing cheeks by thinking about how when she woke up next, Andrew would be back in his bed, safe and sound.

            But when Blair woke up, nearly 5 hours later, Andrew wasn’t there. No one was there. The clock that hung on the wall opposite her read that it was 11:22, and Blair sprung out of bed then. There were 38 minutes left until the deadline, and as far as she knew, it was only her, Austin, and James. Running out of the room and down the corridor, she ran into Eggsy. Quite literally. This morning’s awkwardness seemingly forgotten as he grabbed her shoulders to steady them both. She was about to ask him what was going on when he just reached out for her hand and began pulling her along with him as they ran towards command.

            Eggsy threw the door open, and handed something over to Arthur that she hadn’t noticed he was carrying before. Arthur grabbed it, thanking Eggsy, and carefully placed it on his other side. Blair gave up in trying to figure out what it was, and focused her attention on Andrew’s monitor. He was in a car, driving the familiar route Blair had driven only the evening before. Blair’s heart soared knowing he was so close, but that’s when she realized that Andrew wasn’t the only person in the car. His feed kept showing his rearview mirror, and that’s when Blair saw Harry laying in the back of the car. Harry’s feed showed only darkness, as his face was turned into the cushions. Every few seconds, his body would shake and each time it happened, Blair heard the car’s engine rev as Andrew hit the gas a bit harder than before.

            It wasn’t until she heard James whisper something to Roxy that she realized that he and Austin had been standing in the room all along. They each looked nervous, and when Austin caught her watching him, he looked away, trying to hide his fear. Quickly glancing around the other monitors, she saw that Jack was hurrying his way through St. Pancras and Nick and Max were at the shop, trying to convince the man at the counter to let them use the secret tube to get to the mansion. They didn’t stand a chance at making it in time, only Andrew and Harry, and something was wrong.

            Everyone’s eyes stayed glued to the monitors, watching and waiting for the car to make it to the point at which the car would stop driving. With just 12 minutes left, Arthur sent Eggsy to medical to alert the nurse to the situation. He was told to meet them at the main entrance to wait for the recruits arrival, and as Eggsy hurried out of the room, Roxy began to ask Arthur if it was alright for Andrew and Harry to be on the Kingsman lawn or if they needed to make it into the mansion by noon to make it to the next round.

            “They need to be in the mansion, just like James, Blair, and Austin were before them. But we need to be ready to run out that door to attend to Harry if they don’t make it.” _If they don’t make it? No, they have to make it. Andrew has to come back._ 10 minutes left and Andrew had just entered the woods. _He can do this... c’mon Andrew._ He was speeding through the trees, but gradually his car began to slow down by itself.

            “C’mon bruv! C’mon, we’re almost there! What the fuck?!” Andrew yelled in the car. Harry stirred a bit in the back, but that was it. Soon the warning from the car popped up, and Andrew threw himself out of the car, swung open the door to the backseat, and dragged Harry out. Andrew struggled for a second, trying to securely place Harry over his shoulder and then began running to the clearing.

            “Alright, everyone, move out. Let’s go! To the main entrance!” Arthur and Roxy lead the charge to the main doors, leaving Austin, James, and Blair to sprint after them. Blair took that opportunity to ask them if they had any idea of what had happened to Harry, and neither had a clue. They just knew that whatever it was, it was bad and he didn’t have much time left. _Time to make it to the mansion or time in general? Please, he can’t die._

            7 minutes left and Eggsy looked like a mess. He was standing near the nurse, who was closest to the door, anxiously awaiting the recruits’ arrival. Blair knew that Eggsy and Andrew had a good relationship, like hers and Roxy’s, and that he would be absolutely devastated should Andrew not make it bad. That and Harry’s injury, whatever it was, were taking their toll on him. Blair considered going over to him and trying to convince him that Andrew was going to be okay, but just as she was about to make her move, Roxy grabbed ahold of her wrist and gave her a look saying “let him be.” Blair nodded in defeat, but tightened her grip on Roxy’s hand. She was just as nervous as Eggsy was.

            4 minutes left and Blair and Roxy moved to the window to see how far away Andrew was with Harry. They were visible, but they hadn’t made it to the clearing yet and Blair’s breath caught in her throat and she held it there. Roxy had to squeeze her hand to remind her to breath. Eggsy was pacing. Arthur was rolling something around in his hands, and Blair finally noticed that it was a small vile filled with a dark liquid. He walked over to the nurse, handing her the vile, and patted Eggsy on the back. Eggsy just continued to watch the door.

            3 minutes left and Austin sat down at the table with his head in his hands. James was sniffling, trying to keep his composure at the thought of Andrew not returning at all or returning with a dead Harry in his arms.

            2 minutes left and Andrew entered the clearing, but he was exhausted from carrying all of Harry’s body weight and had no energy left. Everyone moved to the window to watch then, and when Eggsy saw Andrew begin to slow down, he began screaming for him to finish it.

            1 minute left and Blair couldn’t watch anymore. She turned away from the window, a tear dripping off her chin. Roxy was still holding her hand.

            30 seconds left and James placed himself at the door near Eggsy and the nurse, and waited for the end.

            10 seconds left and the door flung open, and in stepped Andrew, laying an unconscious Harry at the nurse’s feet.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm sorry for the shorten length of this chapter, things have been really busy around here. The next mission will be coming up quickly, and it's gonna be a good one, if I do say so myself. Hope you guys enjoy!

            “Alright, James and Austin, I need you to carry Harry to medical. Carefully! Watch his head! Don’t let his neck roll too much. Go, go,” the nurse ordered before turning to Arthur. “Andrew needs to get to medical too, but I have to go down with Harry before his condition.” Being Arthur meant that one person had control over pretty much the entire organization, including medical, but when Merlin assumed the role, this first thing he did was talk to the nurses and tell them that they were going to be in charge of that area. Arthur felt he had no business in medical as it was something he personally had not been trained in, so he told the nurses that when it came to the injured or sick, he would almost always take orders directly from them. Therefore, when he was told to get Andrew to medical, that’s exactly what he did.

            “Eggsy! Blair! One of you on each side of Andrew, get him to medical. Andrew, can you walk?” Andrew was crumpled into a ball in the corner, tears running down his face, but no one knew if it was pain, exhaustion, and the fear of not being able to get Harry back in time. As he lifted his tear-stained face, Blair’s heart stopped. She was so used to seeing Andrew as the rock of the group. He was focused, put together, and by far deserved this more than anyone else. But here he was, looking completely broken in front of her.

            Blair and Eggsy reached Andrew at the same time, carefully lifting him up on both sides. The good news was that he was able to walk a bit, so there was no immediate evidence of broken bones, but the bad news was that his crying turned into full on sobbing when he realized that it was Blair and Eggsy helping him. They walked with him as fast as they could, with Blair whispering “you’re okay now,” “Harry’s gonna be okay,” and other phrases that she wasn’t sure were completely true. Just as they were about to enter medical, Andrew’s sobs died down just enough for Blair and Eggsy to hear Andrew whispering “I’m sorry” into thin air.

            “Blair, give us a minute, yeah?” Blair waited until Eggsy was able to steady Andrew by himself before she left the two to talk. Opening the door and going into medical, she wished she hadn’t. The small room was filled with people running back and forth between Harry’s bed and medicine cabinets. The only place in the room that was out of the way was in one of the corners, already occupied by Austin. Sucking it up, Blair rushed over to the corner, dodging the nurse and Arthur in the process. When she reached the spot next to Austin, he didn’t glare at her like he normally would have, instead, he began to explain everything he knew of what was going on.

            “It’s some kind of allergic reaction to something he ate in France. Arthur checked his records and he didn’t have any allergies written down, so they think it’s something that he was never tested for. When he isn’t unconscious, he’s confused, but he keeps slipping in and out so they haven’t been able to talk to him much. He’s also got a fever and muscle spasms, which is why he couldn’t stay still in the car.”

            “Jesus, why didn’t he get pulled out beforehand?”

            “Arthur apparently spoke to him when symptoms first started showing on Saturday morning, but Harry begged him to let him stay on the mission. I guess when the symptoms started getting worse, he was with Jack who didn’t want to deal with whatever was happening to him, but then Andrew found him on his way to a meeting place for international busses. Had enough money to buy an extra ticket for him and it wasn’t until they got to London that things started to get worse. The nurse says he’ll be alright, but it’s going to take him a few days to recover.” Blair felt awful for Harry, absolutely terrible. It was hard enough being in medical with a broken nose for a few days ( _Thanks Austin_ ), but she couldn’t imagine having to let her body fight something like this off.

            Arthur was standing near the door when Eggsy and Andrew finally walked in. He had finally stopped crying, but Eggsy looked worse for wear. Blair could tell by the stains on his jacket that Andrew had cried on it and there was a bit of evidence that Eggsy teared up as well, but he was trying very hard to keep it together. Eggsy stayed by the door, watching the commotion in the small room as yet another body entered.

            It was Roxy and she was holding a cell phone to her ear. Finding a route through the bodies without causing any problems wasn’t an issue for Roxy as she weaved through to where Arthur was now standing over Andrew. Tapping him on the shoulder, she whispered something and handed the phone over. Arthur quickly left the room to take the call, and she guessed that it was Cliff by the way Arthur was describing the situation. Roxy wiped Andrew’s hair off his forehead before glancing at Blair and shifting her eyes to the door.

            Blair took the hint and exited the room, waiting for her mentor. Roxy came out a moment later and told Blair to follow her. Their walk was quiet and quick, as they only rounded a few corners before they were at her room. Roxy unlocked the door and pulled Blair in with her, signaling for her to sit down on the bed.

            “How are you holding up, Blair?” Rox asked, pacing the room. Something was bothering Roxy, that much she knew, but with the events of today, it could be anything.

            “Rox, I’m alright... Are you... Are you alright? You’re pacing and you look nervous. What’s going on?” Roxy apparently hadn’t noticed she was pacing until it was mentioned.

            “I have a bit of bad news. Well, good news too actually. Due to Harry’s problems, Arthur and Cliff have decided to give you all a few days to pull yourselves together for the next mission. I don’t know what it is going to be yet though. And that’s where the bad new comes in. Before Cliff called, I was on the phone with my mum. It’s, you see, it’s my dad, he got into a car accident and I need to go home for a few days.” She was holding back tears now. “He’s in critical condition, and I need to be there with my family. Which means I won’t be here with you – most likely I’ll miss the next mission.” The tears were dangerously close to spilling over when Blair stood up and grabbed her mentor. Wrapping her arms around Roxy’s small frame, she heard the girl’s voice crack as she went on to say how awful she felt for having to leave Blair to deal with everything alone.

            “Rox, stop that right now, alright? You being with your family is way more important than the next mission. And the mission after that. And everything, yeah? You need to be there, and I wouldn’t expect anything less, okay?” She pulled back then to look Roxy in the eyes. She had seen that look before. The terror that comes when you don’t know what’s going to happen next. To you or your family or life as you knew it. “He’s gonna be alright, Rox. If you two are anything alike, then I know he’ll pull through. When do you leave?” Roxy pulled Blair back in for a hug, waiting to respond until her cries died down.

            “I’ve got to get going now actually. Arthur’s already approved it. I don’t know exactly when I’ll be back, it all depends on how my dad is doing,” Blair nodded her head, grabbing a tissue for Roxy from the night stand. “Thanks. I’ve got to talk to Eggsy still, but he’s going to be my stand in for the next few days. Anything you need, you go to him. Arthur is going to be very busy with Cliff coming back in as they’ll be figuring out the next mission. So stick with Eggsy, yeah?” The weird feeling in her stomach had returned at the mention of his name, but she shook her head anyways. “Good, alright, I’ve got to pack a few things before I talk to Eggsy. Why don’t you go rest? You’ve had an exhausting weekend, and today certainly didn’t make it any better. I’d imagine that Arthur is going to let you all be today as he has got to focus on Harry and Andrew’s recoveries, and he has to formally dismiss Jack, Nick, and Max.” As Blair reached the door, Roxy told her how proud of her she was.

            “Go get to your dad, yeah?” Roxy nodded with a small smile in thanks, and Blair returned it before taking her leave. Blair wanted nothing more than to sleep the rest of the day and all of its horrors away, but she found herself walking to the training center instead of the dorms. While she wanted to sleep, she didn’t want the dreams that came with it. She was still seeing Austin in the face of her kidnapper, and she had no doubt that Harry’s limp body and Andrew’s broken face will make appearances if she tries to sleep so soon after seeing them. In order to get to the training center, she had to pass medical and saw that the room had calmed down only slightly. Through the window, she could see that Arthur had returned to speak to Andrew who had a hovering Eggsy at the foot of his bed. _He’s even better looking when he looks all concerned like that._ This morning’s embarrassment came rushing back then, and she felt awful that her cheeks turned as red as they did then with everything going on.

            As she was about to hurry down the hallway and away from further embarrassment, she caught Austin’s eye. He had been watching her, which made her furious, and when she glared, he looked away sheepishly. _What the fuck is his issue?_ Her thoughts shifted to what she planned to do in the training center as she reached its main doors. _Run until I fall asleep standing up sounds like a good idea,_ so Blair kicked up her feet and ran the rest of the way to the track and continued on it for an hour until she literally fell asleep in the middle of the field.

            She specifically remembered crawling to the middle of the field and falling asleep there. What she did not remember was how she made it back to the dorm and into her bed. She did not remember tucking herself in either. Blair woke up hours later in her warm bed in the again empty dorm room. Rolling around, she tried to remember what had happened, but when she had laid there for another five minutes and still had no answers, she tossed back the covers and put some real clothes on. It was now 6:30 and she had been wearing her pajamas for almost an entire day, and while it felt so reliving to not be doing anything, she felt guilty.

            Stepping into the hallway, Blair walked down towards the cafeteria, hoping to find the others. When she entered though, so found the room full of food but empty of actual people. She settled for a make shift sandwich composed of a dinner roll and some ham that had been cooked up for dinner, and walked back out of the room, tired of being alone for once. _I should go check in on James and Andrew,_ she thought as she turned down a short hallway.

            Walking into medical, it was much quieter than she thought it would be – the only sounds being the beeping of heart monitors and the boys’ breathing. Blair spotted Eggsy sitting in a chair near Andrew’s bed, just staring at his recruit, not hearing the door open behind him. Blair walked over and laid a hand on his shoulder to let him know that he was no longer alone. Lifting his head to look at her, he blinked away the tiredness, and whispered that Andrew had just fallen asleep.

            “He needed it, didn’t he?” Eggsy just shook his head and remained sitting for a moment. Blair took that time to walk over to Harry’s side of the room. The color was slowly returning to his skin, but he looked weak even as he slept. There were droplets of sweat collecting under his hairline, so Blair found a washcloth and dampened it, lightly dabbing the sweat off his face. She then brushed the hair off his forehead like she had seen Roxy do earlier in the day with Andrew. Harry sighed in his sleep as she drew her hand away. The sigh caught Eggsy’s attention as he turned around to look at the two of them. With Roxy gone for a few days, he was glad to still have Blair around to help them all through this.

            Checking on Andrew’s still sleeping form one last time, Eggsy stood up and walked over to Harry’s cot. He tugged on Blair’s jumper and lifted his head towards the door. Blair gave one last look to both of the boys before following Eggsy out of the room. When they began walking, Eggsy led her to the training center, and sat down with her in the low bleachers. The center was empty, but they just stared out at it as if there was something to watch. When Eggsy did speak, his voice was a bit raw, the way it turns after one has had a trying day.

            “Did you have a nice nap earlier?” He asked, still staring out at the field. Blair turned her attention to him, suddenly remembering waking up slightly as she was being lifted from the field however long ago it was.

            “That was you? You took me back to the dorm?”

            “I didn’t know how you could be comfortable down there,” was all he said.

            “Well... thank you...” As her head turned back to face the field, Eggsy snuck a glance at her. She looked like she didn’t know what to do or say either. Suddenly, she turned back to him and they caught each other’s eyes. Both started to talk at same time, trying to rid themselves of the awkwardness they had gotten themselves into. “You first,” Blair rushed out.

            “I was... uh... just gonna see if you talked to Rox? About the next couple of days?” he prompted her.

            “Oh, that’s what I was going to ask you about. Yeah, we talked before she left.”

            “Good. That’s – that’s good. So, if you need anythin’, you can talk to me, yeah?”

            “Right, thanks. I uh... I look forward to it.” _You look forward to it?! Oh dear lord. You could have just stuck with “thanks,” that would have worked._ She smiled through her new found embarrassment anyways, and he shot a brilliant smile right back at her.

            “I hope so,” he responded. “Let me ask you a question first: next time, should I leave my shirt off or keep it on?” _Why is it that my fuck ups make him all confident? Couldn’t we just stick with the awkward stuttering through our sentences? Whatever you do, don’t blush. Do. Not. Blush. Blair._ Blair scoffed in response, not able to come up with a worthy comeback fast enough.

            She settled for “You’re such an idiot, Eggsy,” and walked down the bleachers, leaving him in the stands by himself. Eggsy smirked, knowing that she couldn’t think properly as they both thought back to that morning. Truth is, the look on Blair’s face that morning was in the back of his mind all day. When things started going tits up, he pushed it even farther back, having to focus all of his attention on Andrew and Harry. But when he saw her sleeping on the field, he had to suppress the grin graced his face. _Fuck, Eggsy, she’s only sleeping. Why the fuck are you getting that stupid feeling in your gut?_ And seeing her all shook up due to his flirting, he felt that feeling consume his body. Laying himself down on the bench, he stared up at the ceiling with a stupid lopsided grin on his face that he couldn’t stop. _She’s doing something to you, bruv. You need to let go of it until you know for sure that she gets in. Otherwise, you’ll probably never see her again._ That thought right there wiped the grin away.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Austin's a bit of a dick (read: he's a major dick), Andrew's a sweethart, and Eggsy's... well... Eggsy. Setting up for the next mission which is going to be a doozy, so get ready. Hope you guys enjoy!

            The next few days were deemed by the recruits as the waiting period. Andrew was finally up and moving around as close to normal as one could expect and Harry was only slightly behind in Andrew’s progression. There were no training sessions to attend – but training by oneself was always recommended – and Arthur and Cliff had kept behind closed doors. For the most part, the recruits were free to do as they pleased. And Blair used that precious time to get Eggsy flustered instead of the other way around.

            It started off innocently enough, as she decided that it was time to talk to him about Harry Hart, his father, and how he dealt with all of the pain. The spent nearly an entire day talking about what kind of man Harry was and how his sort of upbringing with Eggsy shaped Eggsy’s relationship with Andrew, about how Dean threatened to drop the baby off at an orphanage if Eggsy didn’t obey him, about how happy his first few years were with Lee Unwin, and everything he had learned about his father since joining Kingsman. Eventually, the conversation switched from less upsetting material to Blair’s life in America, their favorite musical styles, and the stupidest things they had ever done that had gotten them into trouble. And it wasn’t like she meant to, as she always subconsciously bit her lip when she was listening intently to something someone had to say, but she noticed after the third or fourth time that Eggsy’s eyes always flitted down to her lip and then he’d lose himself in his words.

            Blair couldn’t be sure that it was the lip biting at first, so of course she began testing it more frequently. Like whenever they had lunch with Andrew (which was always great because Andrew started to pick up on it and asked Eggsy if he was alright, at which point Eggsy sent a subtle glare in Blair’s direction) or whenever she noticed him walking into the training center as she practiced her jabs. The best part? Eggsy hadn’t come up with a good retaliation yet. He almost always opened the door without a shirt on now, but Blair had come to expect it and didn’t let herself blush whenever she saw him. It was an even level playing field now.

            Not only was she able to fluster him, but over the past few days where Eggsy has been her stand-in mentor, she felt like they had actually developed some sort of friendship that wasn’t based on simply Blair being Roxy’s candidate or Eggsy being a nice guy. They genuinely had fun together, and it made the sitting around and waiting for the ball to drop a whole lot easier. Blair still felt a bit unsteady though, as Roxy wasn’t there as her constant backer. The recruits still didn’t have any idea how many of them were going to make it as Kingsman, and Blair often found that whenever she was with Eggsy, she avoided asking him for specific help with some training technique or really asking him anything about the rest of the recruitment process. She didn’t want Andrew to think that she was trying to steal his mentor and she didn’t want Eggsy to focus on her training when it was Andrew he should be worried about.

            They were in their fourth day of the waiting period when Blair decided to avoid from being alone with Eggsy for a bit. Harry was getting better, finally being allowed outside of medical. The nurses told her that they expected him to be able to resume training within the next day, which meant that the next mission would be coming up shortly. So that morning when she, James, Andrew, and Eggsy sat around a table to eat breakfast, she quickly excused herself after scarfing down her eggs and toast.

            “Blair, where ya goin’?” Andrew yelled after her. Since getting out of medical, Blair suspected that Andrew knew something was different, but he didn’t seem to be thrown by it - he just kept going on with life. He had given her a few looks over the past couple of days, but nothing suggesting that he was mad. In fact, she didn’t know what those looks were for, so she reminded herself to ask him later.

            “Oh... you know... out there,” she said pointing past the door, and she watched as everyone in the cafeteria just turned and stared at her. No one knew exactly what was going on, but that was just fine, because she wasn’t entirely sure either. Rushing down the hallways, she ended up in her favorite place, the training center. Unfortunately, the center was not empty as Blair had been hoping for. Austin was using the free weights on the other side of the field, and he had seen her now, so there was no turning back.

            For a while, they had stayed on their own sides of the gym, Austin using the free weights continuous and Blair working on her knife skills. Working in silence, they focused on their own training, except for sneaking the occasional glance at each other. They were definitely each other’s biggest competition, even though it was likely that the performance of the Brits and the Americans didn’t technically interfere with the selection process for either the US or the UK. But neither one of them was willing to back down, at least, that’s what Blair thought.

            “You know you’re not supposed to bend your back like than when rolling right?” Austin had called out. Blair fought the off the need to roll her eyes before answering.

            “That’s why I’m in here working on my rolls. Thanks for the help though.” Austin began walking towards her and when he reached her side, he held out his hand for the knife. Reluctantly handing it over, she watched as he backed himself away from her and perfected the roll she had been working on for weeks.

            “You’ve got to bend this part of the lower back,” walking even closer to her, he poked her right in her problem spot of her back and said, “not here. Here, take the knife back and I’ll help flip you over in the right position.”

            “How do I know that this isn’t some ploy to break some other body part of mine?” Blair asked, folding her arms across her chest.

            “You don’t, but you’ll just have to trust me,” he responded, mimicking her stance.

            “Trust you? You want me to trust you? Ha! You’ve haven’t done a very good job at earning my trust.”

            “C’mon Blair, do you want to master that flip or not? I’m not going to drop you or hurt you, alright? Just trying to be nice, is all.” She highly doubted that, but she needed to figure out this flip or else she was seriously going to injure her back down the road.

            “Fine, alright, let’s just do it.” She could have sworn that Austin smiled a bit as he placed a hand on her lower back and then had the other one in the air ready to spot. “Ready? Three, two, one...” And just like that, Austin grabbed her leg as she pushed off the ground and guided the movement of her lower back to the correct position. She felt powerful, and she knew that that was what the right position was supposed to allow. “That felt great! Thank you, Austin. For your help and for not dropping me.”

            Austin nodded his head and began to inch himself even closer, saying, “I told you that you could trust me.”

            “That was one thing, Austin, and after everything that’s happened, I’m gonna need more that you not dropping me to prove that you are trustworthy.” He was beginning to get annoyed then, his nose flaring a bit, but he took a deep breath and calmed himself.

            “Blair, c’mon. I’ve gotta say, you really have gotten on my last nerve since the beginning of this, but really, I like the fact that you aren’t easy to get - I like the chase. And one of these days, you’re going to realize that you want to be caught. And I’ll be right there when it happens.” He was smug, and felt like the development he had seen was actually there. Blair began to back away, but Austin took a bigger step towards her for every one that she took back.

            “You’re right, Austin. I do like the chase especially when I’m in front of you, but I hate being caught. I don’t know what exactly you’re on about, but I can promise you that _you_ will _never_ catch me.” His eyes glinted against the light from the ceiling, showing how dark they had gotten, and Blair realized that he just how much he had grown to like their fighting. Pulling a page from her own book, Austin bit his lower lip, backing her into a corner, and placing his arms on either side of her.

            “You had to have known that this was going to happen. Me and you? The top two in the class and you being the only girl other than Roxy? It’s basically expected of us to get together. And with all of that tension between the two of us? Imagine how great we’d be. Now let’s just get it over with, yeah?” He was dangerously close then, but he left himself unguarded. Blair threw her left arm under his right, breaking his stance and sending him into the wall as he no longer had a way to hold himself up. She took that moment to run out of the center, through the halls, and into the library, where they hadn’t been since they had to take their written tests. Blair hid in an aisle for a few minutes, making sure that he hadn’t followed her in there.

            _How dare he? I haven’t been fighting with him because I am secretly attracted to him! I’ve been fighting with him because I hate him! Honestly, how did that get confused within his brain? Fuck. What am I supposed to do now? I can’t very well ever be alone with him ever again. Jesus. Things go from being so much better in an instant and then so much worse in the next._

Blair wandered around the library for the next few hours. Partly because she didn’t want to leave and risk being around Austin and partly because she had found some good books to read. She settled on a big volume, detailing the creation of Kingsman and all of its founding members. It was a noble idea, really, creating an intelligence agency above politics and fighting for the good in the world, but there was still  so much that could have been done in the very beginning that world have altered the course of Kingsman for good. For example, all of the men that had recruited in the early years, and even until just recently, had been from noble upbringing. There was no diversity, and in that sense, they didn’t separate themselves at all from what they had deemed to be inferior and not-above-corruption intelligence agencies of the time. And now, people were starting to realize that it was time to branch out (thanks to Harry Hart, according to what Eggsy had told her), but Roxy had also told her that some of the older agents still hadn’t fully accepted her, even after her blowing up a satellite. Roxy’s strength was reduced to what made her different. Blair continued to read and to criticize until she heard one of the doors open into the library. Sitting as still as possible, she held her breath and willed for the person to leave, but then she heard someone call out her name. It was Andrew.

            “Andrew? I’m back here,” she called out, placing the book back on its shelf and heading for the open center of the room. “What are you doing here?”

            “Lookin’ for you. Arthur’s called a meetin’ and Eggsy asked me to come find you. What are you doin’ in here by yourself?”

            “It’s not important,” she said, grabbing Andrew’s out held arm. _The boy had become such a gentleman since they had come here, but he probably was like this to some degree beforehand._ “You look like you’re doing well today. How are you feeling?” It was true. Andrew’s cuts had started to scab over and the life was coming back to his eyes. His voice didn’t waiver as it had the day he came back with Harry, and the swelling of his eyes due to tears and fatigue had finally died down.

            “Better, yeah. I’m hoping this meetin’s about gettin’ back out there. I don’t like bein’ stuck in here all day long. And Harry is doin’ really well. I was in with him when Eggsy came to get me.”

            “I completely understand. I don’t want to spend another night in here before our next mission,” she shuttered. Andrew had felt it, patting her arm. “Andrew, promise me something?”   
            “Anything.”

            “Promise me that when all of this is over, no matter who gets in and who is asked to leave, we’ll still be friends? I don’t want to lose you after this.” It was weird asking for this, Blair had realized. Before Kingsman, she didn’t have a single person in the world that she had wanted to stay in contact with. She had “friends” at school in America, but with her move, she knew that those friendships would just be vague memories not long after. She liked the people that she had met at university, but none of them actually knew who she was, and Andrew did. And he understood everything that had happened and that was currently happening. There were few people she trusted in this world, and Andrew was at the top of the list.

            “Now is not the time to be gettin’ sentimental, love. But yes, I promise that no matter what happens, you and I will always be friends.” Blair smiled and hugged him from the side as they walked, causing them to nearly trip and fall on their faces, but they managed. _We will always manage._ They found themselves back in front of the dorm room then, with Arthur, Cliff, and Eggsy all standing outside the door. “Sorry, Arthur and Cliff, took me a bit to find her.” Blair whispered an apology, and welcomed Cliff back in the same breath. His back stiffened, but he thanked her anyways.

            “Head inside you two, we’ll be getting started in just a moment,” Arthur instructed. The pair nodded at their superiors, and as they entered the room, they both caught Eggsy giving them a forced smile. Making their way into the room, they fell into the line already being formed by Austin, Harry, and James. Blair made sure to keep her eyes to the ground and stood at the end of the line opposite of Austin. She felt his eyes on her as she finished the line, but the whole interaction was missed by Austin.

            “What do ya think that was about?” Andrew leaned down, whispering in her ear. “With the look Eggsy gave us?”

            “Oh... uh... I don’t know. I’m sure it was nothing.” Blair whispered back. The recruits stood around for a moment of utter silence before the door swung open.

            “Good evening, everyone. As you can see, Jason has rejoined us after some time at home. And Andrew and Harry have been given the all clear to move ahead with training and missions.” Arthur looked genuinely pleased at how the recruits had recovered. There had been some speculation as to whether Harry was going to be asked to leave since he didn’t make it back by himself, but Cliff and Arthur decided that an allergy that Harry was unaware of that was slowing killing him was a good enough reason to concluded that had he not gotten sick, he most likely would have made it back due to his progression before the illness.

            “Tomorrow is a new day and therefore it is a new mission. While visiting his family, Cliff was given information by US HQ of kidnappings of political figures that survived Valentine’s cull. Some of these politicians are also newly elected. But what links them all together is that they are members of the same political party. There is a big bill coming up in Congress that will determine whether or not a class of drugs will be legalized and therefore regulated and taxed. Proponents of this bill say that the taxes will greatly increase the budget the states have to utilize in the rebuilding after V-Day, but opponents think that the legalization will push the country into an even worse state than before.

            “The figures that have been kidnapped are all opponents of the bill. We have intelligence that leads us to believe that they are being held at the home of the head organizer behind the kidnappings. Your mission will be to attend a gala being thrown at the home tomorrow, determine whether or not the captives are being held there, and extracting them if possible. You will each be briefed on your individual roles further on the plane tomorrow. Tonight, however, each of you will accompany us to the tailors where you will be fitted for your gala outfits.”

            They were lead to the tube station and divided into two groups as all eight of them would not be able to fit in the tiny carriage. Blair clung to Andrew, and while he sensed that something was wrong, he didn’t ask her about it again. They filed into the first carriage to arrive, and Blair’s eyes caught Austin’s. He was moving towards the platform, trying to push James out of the way so he could get into her carriage. Luckily, he wasn’t stupid enough to try and push his way past Eggsy and Arthur who stepped on before he had the chance. The door quickly slid down as they all took their seats and flew off under the earth.

            Eggsy was sitting right across from Blair, with Andrew to her left and Arthur sitting diagonal, but even with the good company, she kept her eyes glued to the window despite the fact that there was nothing to see but darkness. Eggsy pulled his eyes away from her to look to Andrew, who just shrugged his shoulders. Arthur watched it all in silence, completely oblivious to what was bothering Blair, even though he had been in the control room when Austin cornered Blair. It just so happened that the cameras in the training center didn’t reach the area Austin had pushed her into. It seemed like no one knew, and she was almost grateful that it would be kept secret for now. It would just cause unnecessary drama and possibly cause Austin to come after her again, this time with more force.

            A few words between the men in the carriage were exchanged, but there was an audible sigh of relief when they reached the shop. The shop had more people in it that normal, but as Arthur started pushing Andrew and Blair in the direction of the fitting rooms, they learned that these people were indeed tailors. As Blair was ushered into her fitting room, a woman flew in behind her to take her measurements.

            “You must be Blair. I’m Allison, it’s nice to meet you. I’ve got to get really good measurements of you since we are only doing this fitting once, so if you wouldn’t mind stepping out of your uniform?” Blair quickly undressed, seeing as this woman was on a mission. She moved gracefully around Blair’s body, holding the measuring tape in various places, and jotting down numbers.

            “I haven’t seen you around her before,” Blair observed.

            “No, I’m quite new. I’ve been a seamstress for many years now, but I was asked to come to work in this shop to help design a new line of women’s dress ware that will be as functional, in not more so, than the line for men. Only been here for a few weeks. If you wouldn’t mind turning around, Ms. Blair?” Blair spun around, and Allison took one more measurement before completely her work. “Alright, you are all set with your measurements. Once you get dressed, you can go across the room and wait for Arthur. He has some things he will need to talk to you about since your outfit will be different than the boys. It was lovely to meet you.” Allison held out her hand for Blair to shake before leaving her to get dressed. Allison seemed to know to an extent that their dress ware wasn’t exactly normal, per say, but Blair expected that she wasn’t fully in the loop as to what Kingsman’s other venture was.

            Stepping into the main room, she saw that James was next in line to be measured by Allsion, and that Austin and Harry had been lined up to wait for whoever opened next. Eggsy was wandering about the shop, just looking at things, while Arthur and Cliff were having a quiet conversation in the back of the shop. Blair, not wanting to interrupt, went and stood near the checkout desk, avoiding eye contact with everyone. A minute later, Arthur excused himself from Cliff and tapped her on the shoulder.

            “Blair, if you wouldn’t mind coming with me, I’ve got some new gadgets I’d like to show you.” He led Blair into the fitting room that contained the weapons room and pulled on the same hanger she had last week. Stepping inside, he walked to a display in the room that had just been added. “Everything here has been specifically designed with Roxy and possible new female recruits in mind. As you have heard by now, Kingsman suits are completely bulletproof, and while we have been able to utilize the same material in yours and Roxy’s outfits, a significantly larger portion of your bodies will remain exposed due to you both having to wear dresses to some events, like tomorrow night’s gala. Because of that, I have designed multiple purses that are bullet proof and can be used as a shield, as well as new weapons that would not be suspicious if found in a purse.

            “For example, female watches are typically smaller than men’s because of smaller wrist sizes, so I have taken a compact makeup mirror and put in extra amnesia darts in the bottom of it. Here, take a look,” he said, handing over the small mirror. “Go ahead and open it up. Without your glasses on, it looks like a normal mirror, but when you put these on,” passing along the glasses, “the mirror becomes two-way allowing you to see your targets right through it. Tapping lightly twice on the bottom of the mirror, a dart will shoot out. Nice, yeah?” He asked, giddy with his new inventions.

            “Your purse will also contain a small lipstick that conceals a knife coated with poison, and you can fit two Kingsman pistols in there along with some other toys. None of this can be detected using any sort of scan, as your guns will be under the lining, which you just need to pull up on when you need them, and the rest of the purse just looks like your normal cosmetic tools. Roxy has also been helping me to design heels that conceal weapons as well, and so far everything is still being tested other than these,” he reached up to grab a pair of sleek, black heels.

            “What exactly do they do?” Blair asked as Arthur suggested she try them on. They fit perfectly as she walked around the room, feeling powerful with the tap-tap-tapping of the heel on the wooden flooring.

            “These you’ll have to be careful with. We took a note from Valentine’s assistance’s book and crafted the actual heel out of a blade. Notice how the heel is in a diamond shape rather than a square? That’s because the front and back are to act as the blades of a knife. You can kick either way, and your mark would be cut pretty brutally. Do not touch the bottom of the hell ever. These things are incredibly sharp, and it’d be a bad way to go.”

            “Arthur, these are fucking fantastic,” Blair exclaiming, kicking her legs around the room.

            “Alright, that’s enough,” he chuckled. “I’ll have all of your stuff put together and it’ll be given to you on the plane.” Blair lifted herself out of the shoes, carefully handing them back to her superior.

            “Arthur? Have you heard anything from Roxy recently? Is she going to be there tomorrow?”

            “I don’t think so, Blair. I talked to her on the phone earlier this afternoon, and he father is doing a bit better, but he is still in critical condition. Roxy said that the doctors are hopeful, but right now, they just have to wait it out. She wanted me to tell you that she wishes you luck though,” he gave her a small smile, while patting her back as they made their way out of the weapons room. “I know you’ll do great though, and that you’ll make her proud. Now off you go, I have some weapons kits that need assembling.”


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really really liked writing this chapter, so I hope you guys enjoy it! In addition, this mission will span over a couple of chapters just like the French one did.

            The first few hours on the plan to US HQ were quiet. Blair found herself in a small pod of seats with Andrew and Eggsy, but she didn’t pay them much attention as she was constantly in a state of drifting off to sleep. For the entire night leading up to the flight, Blair couldn’t sleep due to a mixture of excitement for the mission and caution from being in a room with Austin. But now, the nerves were kicking in, and Arthur hadn’t given them any more details about their roles, and that just gave Blair more time to make up scenarios in her head of all of the things that could go wrong on a _real_ mission like this one. She had been hoping that falling asleep would be one way to stop the scenes of mass destruction playing through her head, but it only made them more graphic. And then there was Arthur, who had been constantly moving around the cabin and organizing folders and it was all just too much. Eventually, Arthur called Eggsy and Cliff up, and they began to pass out folders to each of the recruits.

            “What you have in your hands needs to be memorized within the next few hours. These will be your new life stories. You have to blend in at this party. If you don’t, the mission will be compromised, do you understand?” Glancing around the room, he saw five heads nod, and went on. “Before you dive into your own stories, I am going to lay out for you a basic description of each person’s role. You all need to be aware of who each person is playing, what they are doing, and through your glass, you will be in constant communication with everyone if an issue arises.

            “Starting off with Harry, you will be the charmer of the group. It is your job to find the head of the organization and keep his attention away from the extraction. He’s a tough guy, but he’s got a thing for young people that have an interest in his work, so tonight you will be the son of a state politician who wants in to the field. Play like you know he has something to do with the missing politicians and praise him. Get him to tell you everything. Moving on to James and Andrew,” Arthur went on, “you two will be there as business partners who are looking to get a piece of the action. You will know nothing of the kidnappings, but you think this is something worth investing into – regulating these drugs is something worth investing in, yeah? When you’re not blending in, you’ll be finding and extracting the missing politicians. Understood?” Both boys tried to sound confident in their “yes sir’s,” but ended up looked nervously across the plane to each other anyways.

            “Finally, we will have our power couple: Blair and Austin.” _Do not flinch. Keep watching Arthur, don’t give anything away. Do not look over at Austin, just focus on Arthur._ “The two of you will be normal party guests that have absolutely no idea as to what is going on. You were invited to the gala because you come from money and they will want to convince you to become backers of the Democratic Party, which is the one that supports the bill. The kidnapping organization is not technically associated with the Democrats, but they are a much more liberal organization backing the closest party that has a chance to them.

            “You two will be the muscles of the team. You both will be needed to take out the lower ranking members of the group, including all guards that stand in Andrew and James’s way. You will all need to be believable. Whether you’re pretending to be in love,” Arthur said, pointing between Blair and Austin, “or you’re pretending to be a cold blooded killer wannabe like Harry, or you’re classy businessmen like Andrew and James, you all have parts to play, and they all intertwine. One screw-up from any of you could cause drastic changes to the mission for the other four. Now, we have two and a half hours left, start reading and learning, and when you’ve memorized packets, pair up with your partner and figure out how you’re going to play the part. Harry, once you’ve finished, you’re going to get help from Eggsy on how to accomplish commanding the head’s attention. Get to work.”

            Blair flipped open her file and stared at the first page. “Mrs. Elizabeth Ashley Harper, wife of Mr. Richard Allen Harper. Age 26. Occupation: Housewife. Marriage Status: Married for One Year,” the page read. _Fuck me._ “How to act: head over heels in love with husband, oblivious to the inner workings of business, quiet when in the company of men, loud and talkative when in the company of women of equal status.” _Fuck me twice._ Flipping through the next pages, Blair read about what her family upbringing was like (wealthy, but even more so when her parents were killed in V-Day and left everything to her, only child, boarding schools in Switzerland), how she met _Richard_ (family friend of her mother’s introduced them when they were just teenagers, he spent six years courting her before he popped the question), and what her husband does now (made his money in the real estate business). Elizabeth Harper, on the other hand, spent her time organizing luncheons, parties, and charity events for her husband’s business and all of the organizations she belonged to. _Oh my god. I mean, at least you’re only pretending to be married to Austin right? Could you imagine having your whole life dedicated to that piece of shit?_

            Blair sat there trying to acquaint herself with Elizabeth Harper for over an hour while convincing herself that they were going to be under constant surveillance and that Austin couldn’t hurt her without hurting himself. Reviewing her background story for the 15th time, her attention was drawn to the shifting of Andrew’s seat. He leaned over and whispered that he was going to work on his story with James, and wished her luck with Austin. She smiled weakly, and was thankful that Eggsy had stayed in his seat and insisted that Harry come over to him instead. Eggsy caught her eye and mouthed “are you alright?” before Harry joined them, and she promised that she was. If she was going to be a Kingsman, she was going to be able to work with all kinds of people, including ones that she hated and was terrified of. Austin must have known that she was thinking about how much she was going to hate this, because suddenly he was next to her in Andrew’s old seat.

            “Hello there, love!”  He was cheery, and she wanted to throttle him for it.

            “Richard...” Austin gave her a look when she said his stage name, but convincing herself that she, Elizabeth, was in love with her husband, Richard, was the only way she was going to get through being glued to Austin’s side all night.

            “Getting into character already then? That’s good, but remember, you are ‘head over heels’ in love with me, so you better put some love into that voice of yours, sweetheart.” _I will kill him by the end of the night._ Noticing Eggsy out of the corner of her eye, it looked like he was just as annoyed with Austin’s presence as she was.

            “How’s this?” she asked, clearing her throat. “Richard, dear, the love of my life, we really must get started if that would please you.” She smiled sweetly at him as her voice dripped with sarcasm. Austin’s grin was wicked, clearly picking up on her tone, determined to get his way anyways.

            “Much better, darling.” They quizzed each other in character for a good 45 minutes, passing every test the other could throw. As the plane began its descent, Arthur, Cliff, and Eggsy walked around to observe and critique each recruit’s performance. When they finally got to Austin and Blair, they asked them questions about the other, expecting very detailed answers and explanations for the littlest thing, and deemed their knowledge of each other’s character “impressive”. Arthur looked a bit concerned though, and asked them to stand up and assume different couple poses.

            “There’s just something a bit off. Elizabeth,” he was using all codenames now, “you look like you’ve just gotten into a fight with Richard and that you have no interest in being near him, but that you’re simply putting up with it.” _That’s cause that’s what happened, Arthur._ “I need you two to sell that you’re in love. I’m going to need lots of hand-holding, and Richard, your arm should be around her waist for 90% of the evening. You don’t want anyone else thinking that she’s not taken, alright? These guys will pick up on the two of you if you’re not fitting in, so sell it. Richard, try giving her a kiss. We need to make sure it’s believable.” Blair’s breath caught in her throat and everyone’s eyes were on the two of them. _This has to be a test. Arthur knows your history with Austin, but he needs to see that you can play the part. He needs to know that you will be convincing in any situation, so if he wants you to kiss Austin, then fine. Fucking kiss him._

            Blair turned to face Austin, finding him already watching her. He had a smile stitched onto his face, _but dammit, my doing this doesn’t mean you’ve won._ Blair reached her hand up behind his head, threading her fingers through the brown curls at the nape of his neck, and pulled him down to her level. His eyes were wide open now, but as soon as she brought her lips to his, they snapped shut. Blair’s eyes closed a second later, as her head curved so they didn’t bump noses. Austin was motionless for a millisecond, completely stunned that she was actually kissing him, especially since she technically wasn’t being forced to, but when his brain came back around, he started to kiss her back. His arms wrapped around her lower back, resting right where he had held her the day before to help her flip. He was trying to take control of the kiss, but Blair refused him access into her mouth, slowly pulling away instead, and letting their foreheads rest against each other for a minute.

            Backing her body away from Austin’s entirely, she turned to face Arthur, Cliff, and Eggsy, who was looking like he had no clue what had just happened. Scanning the small cabin, that’s how the rest of the boys looked as well, but Andrew had a hint of pride in his look of surprise that told Blair that he had known exactly what she was doing – taking the control away from Austin.

            “Was that better, Arthur?” Blair asked, as innocently as she could muster.

            “Much better,” he said, giving her a smirk. “Much better indeed.” Turning away from the two “lovebirds,” Arthur informed them all that it was time to take their seats, and that the plane would be landing shortly. Austin plopped back down in the seat next to Blair, but he stared straight ahead, trying to cross his legs in the small area. Eggsy couldn’t stop flicking his eyes between the two, not quite sure how to react to what just happened. All Blair could do was watch the ground getting closer and closer, begging for someone to come and take her away from all of them.

            Blair should have realized that they weren’t going to fly into a normal airport to get to US HQ, but seeing a similar bunker filled with planes, cars, and tanks still shocked her. Eggsy, Arthur, and Cliff were the first ones lined up along the inner cabin, and as the recruits started to walk out, they were each handed large suitcases. Cliff was heard up front, telling the recruits not to ask what was inside now, because they’d be opening them in just a few minutes. Blair followed Andrew up the aisle, and was handed her suitcase by Eggsy. Looking up to thank him, Blair saw Eggsy open his mouth slightly, like he had something to say to her, but when they locked eyes, he closed it again.

            “What is it?” He looked around, presumably looking for Arthur and Cliff since they were now the only others left on the plane, but when he saw that they were occupied with the pilot, he looked at her again, bright eyes searching her own.

            “Did you want to kiss him?” He whispered, eyes refusing to look anywhere else. Blair gave a definitive head shake.

            “Absolutely not,” she whispered back. The grin that broke out on his face was infectious, and Blair couldn’t help but smile back.

            “Good. That’s... uh... that’s good to hear.” They stood there, just smiling for a few second, completely unaware of their surroundings until Cliff cleared his throat a few feet away.

            “Let’s get a move on, shall we?” Cliff mused. Both Blair’s and Eggsy’s cheeks blushed as they made their way out of the plane, but not before Eggsy caught a warning look from Arthur. Blair tried brushing off the conversation that just took place, but it was extremely difficult, especially when her hand skimmed Eggsy’s as they rushed to catch up with the rest of the group. She refused to look at him, but when Eggsy peaked over at her, he could see her cheeks flame up even more. She had to say something or else she’d burst.

            “Cliff?” _Where are you going with this?_ “Where in the states are we?”

            “Just outside of Arlington, Virginia.” Blair nodded her head, and left it at that. They had reached the door then, and Eggsy pulled it open. Blair allowed herself to look at him then, and she had honestly never seen a more beautiful smile than she had when he looked at her. _Blair. Stop with this right now. You are only a few hours from going on your very first mission and you have to be married to Austin, no, Richard, for the night. You cannot let yourself think about his smile for any longer than necessary. Where the fuck is Roxy or Andrew when you need them?_

            The rest of the recruits were waiting for Cliff to direct them, since they really hard no idea what was to happen next, and it seemed that Austin was no longer in his confused and slightly blissful state. He had seen the look that had passed between Blair and Eggsy, and even though he had no idea as to what had happened, he was livid. His face was covered in angry, blotchy, red spots, and his arms were folded across his chest. As Blair took a spot next to Andrew, Austin walked over to her other side before Eggsy could reach her and placed an arm around her waist. When she flinched away from the contact, he leaned down to her ear to whisper: “you’re mine, for tonight, at least. Remember that.”

            Blair was grateful then for Cliff to lead them down a small corridor, allowing her to shimmy out of his grasp and run his foot over with her suitcase. She got as close to Arthur and Cliff at the front of the progression as she could, willing for someone to punch her “husband” in the face that night.


	17. Chapter 17

            Her dress was the color of the ocean after a storm had come through, and when the light caught it, flecks of silver sparkled and looked like the sun was piercing the waves as they rolled on. The bodice was tight, clinging to her skin, but then fanned out so her legs could slice through the air at a moment’s notice. Arthur had somehow taken the black heels from UK HQ and had them dyed to match the dress in just a few hours, and Blair had to admit it, she had never felt more beautiful in her life. As she stepped out of the fitting room, she approached Arthur, waiting for his approval, and he turned at the sound of her heels clicking. For a moment, he was speechless.

            “You look just like your mother the first time I had formally met her. Stunning, Blair, absolutely stunning. There are a few things that are missing though.” She watched as he leaned over to a small table and picked up a cherry wood box. “US HQ is loaning us these for the evening,” he said, pulling out a long line of freshwater pearls and a gorgeous diamond ring Blair was assuming to be her wedding band. “This ring is sharp enough to cut during fist-to-fist contact, so make sure you use it.”

            “What about the necklace? What does it do?”

            “Nothing. It just matches your dress.” Blair looked up at the man through her newly issued formal-wear Kingsman glasses, and thanked him. He left her then to put on her final touches before leaving for the party. There was an hour left, and Blair knew that she needed to spend it getting her head back in the game. _It has to be the dress – it’s drawing you out of the real reason for wearing it. If this all works, you’re going to need to get used to being able to dress like this. Take one last look, and get out there._ After making sure that everything was in its place, Blair grabbed her purse and left the fitting room, and entered a small gallery filled with men in suits. A second glance showed her that those men were actually the boys she had spent that last few months with, but they proved that they all cleaned up very nicely. She even had to admit that her husband for the evening looked very dapper in his black-as-night bespoke suit.

            Arthur, Cliff, and Eggsy rounded the corner then and pulled them all into a small circle. Blair risked a look over at Eggsy as Austin’s arm found her waist again, and but he was trying very hard not to focus on her, instead staring at the ground in front of her feet. Letting her eyes wander, she was met with Andrew’s gaze and saw him whisper the word “damn,” before grinning at her. Feeling the blush crept up due to her best friend’s ( _best friend? Yeah, alright, he is the closest thing I’ve got other than Roxy_ ) stupidity, Blair forced herself to look directly at Arthur, who was giving everyone one last look over.

            “This is it, lady and gentlemen. The five of you are to only use codenames this evening, so everyone go around the circle to make sure that everyone remembers who you are. Andrew, you start.”

            “The name’s Jacob.”

            “I’m Tony,” Harry introduced himself.

            “Henry,” James piped in.

            “I’m Richard, and this is my wife, Elizabeth.” Austin gestured to with Blair, using his free hand. The other snaked itself tighter around her waist, while she just smiled politely, playing her part.

            “Good, now I am going to be Jacob and Henry’s driver,” Cliff explained, pulling Andrew and James with him. “Tony, Eggsy will be your driver, and Arthur will be taking Elizabeth and Richard in a limo. When we arrive to the party, Eggsy and I will be ditching our cars in the parking lot and sneaking into the limo. That is where command will be, and when it’s time to go, all of you will get your asses in the limo. Got it?”

            “Uh, Cliff, there’s probably going to be a million limos there, how will be know which one is the right one?” Andrew questioned.

            “The limo will look like all of the others, but Richard and Elizabeth will be arriving first. So when the rest of us get there, you will see when Arthur has parked.”

            “Additionally, your glasses will be able to direct you to the car if you have forgotten its location and Eggsy, Jason, and I are too preoccupied to lead you back to it.” Arthur chimed in. “Richard, Elizabeth, time to go.” Blair began to follow Austin and Arthur to the limo, pausing to wave back at James, Harry, Andrew, and Eggsy.

            “Good luck,” she mouthed, sliding into the car as Austin held the door for her. With so much room in the limo, one would think that Austin and Blair could sit with a bit of room between the two of them, but every time Blair skootched over, Austin would be quick to follow. Deciding that this wasn’t a battle worth fighting, Blair let him slide up next to her and put his arm over her shoulders. Resisting the urge to roll her eyes at her husband, she called up to Arthur, asking why the limo looked so normal on the inside when it was supposed to be their command center.

            “Shouldn’t there be monitors at least?” Arthur flicked the visor above the front passenger’s seat, and slide the mirror open, triggering the divider between the driver and the back portion of the limo to fall away, leaving a row on computer screens showing feed from his, Eggsy’s, and Cliff’s glasses. “Oh. Well, good...” Arthur slide the mirror back into place, and the divided rose back into place.

            The ride was quiet until the last five minutes. Austin and Blair fiddled with their accessories, making sure everything was in place before they wouldn’t have the opportunity to look nervous. Austin eventually removed his arm from her to lean down and double knot his shoes, earning an amused look from his partner. He muttered something about not wanting his shoes to fall off if there was going to be a lot of running involved. Lifting her dress to look at her own shoes, Blair prayed that there wouldn’t be any running involved.

            Arthur was the first to speak up to the both of them, reminding that that he, Jason, and Eggsy would be in their ears at all time to alter them to danger. “This is a real mission, and we will treat you like any other agents in the field,” and Blair hoped that was a good thing. Arthur continued on to explain the importance of taking in their surrounds, as he would need to see everything too. “Even if it doesn’t look important to you, I need to see it.” The nerves were escalading now, and Blair was only comforted by the fact that they were all feeling like this.          

            “Here we go,” he said as he pulled up to a massive bronze gate protecting an equally massive estate. “Game faces,” he reminded them as he rolled down the window to talk to security. “Richard and Elizabeth Harper,” he responded to the guard, handing over their identification. Through the tinted windows, Blair and Austin watched as the guard checked their names off on his list and handed back the papers. Arthur thanks him, rolling the window back up, and continuing down the tree covered drive way.

            “Glasses are active, can everyone hear me?” Blair jumped a little at the sound of six other voices ringing in her ears. “Approaching the front entrance now.” Putting the car in park, Arthur walked around to Blair’s door, opening it, and holding his hand out for her. Austin stepped out behind her, and without second glance to their driver, Elizabeth and Richard Harper walked up the marble steps, arm in arm.

            The two of them were greeted by one of many doormen, who escorted the couple through the empty foyer to a heavy set of wooden doors. Knocking once, the doors swung inward, revealing at least 150 party guests. Blair and Austin took a second to take it all in, and then Austin led her to the bar. It was fully stocked, the choices absolutely baffling. Austin lined himself up behind another couple, leaning down to ask Blair what she wanted to drink. She was so focused in making sure that her glasses caught everything, that when she tried to come up with a drink, she was at a lost.

            “Rum and coke?” He gave her a bit of look, signaling that that answer wasn’t what Elizabeth would have order. She nodded and changed her mind: “you know what love, why don’t you order something for me? I am going to run to the ladies room quickly, and I’ll meet you right back here, yes?” Even in her heels, she had to lean up to brush a kiss to his cheek before she excused herself. Turning away from the bar, Blair caught a glimpse of Andrew and James walking in the door. Forcing herself to look away, she saw a man dressed in a suit, just like the rest of them, but he was standing on the perimeter of the ballroom, hands behind his back, with a gun hidden in his suit jacket. As she approached him, she made sure to pretend like she was trying to locate the restroom herself, but that she had been unsuccessful.

            “Excuse me, sir. I’m sorry, but would you happen to know where the ladies room is?” It wasn’t until she was standing directly in front of him that she realized how small she was in comparison. The man turned slightly into the curvature of the wall, and pointed to his left.

            “Follow this wall about a quarter of the way, and then there will be a hallway to your left. Once in the hallway, go down to the second passage on your right, and it’ll be the first door on your left.” _Can you get anything else?_

“Thank you so much! This place is absolutely massive, and I am so horrible with directions. Always have to leave them up to my husband,” she laughed. He smiled down politely, but quickly raised his head back up to continue scanning the room.

            “This place is a bit confusing, but you can ask anyone standing along the walls for directions.”

           “You are very kind, thank you,” she told him, following the wall. _One, two, three. Three guards on one quarter of the wall._ She found the hall the guard had directed her to, saw one more security detail member, turned down the second passage on her right (completely empty), and found the second door, leading to the restroom. There was another woman in there, and the two exchanged polite hello’s as Blair began to powder her nose. A minute later, she was alone.

           “Arthur, did you clock all of the guards? Should be 12 around the perimeter of the lower level? And at least one in every hall off the main room?” She questioned, turning on the faucet to drown out her voice.

           “Got it, Blair, you and Austin are going to need to get to the either the basement or the second floor. Away from the action. Go wherever you see more guards, they’ll be protecting something.” Blair turned the water off, and dried her hands, giving a slight shake of her head to acknowledge Arthur. Leaving the restroom, she followed her pervious path and noticed that the guards had rotated since she had gone inside. Blair decided to cut across the ballroom then, making her way back to Austin.  He was talking to the couple that was standing in front of them at the bar, and when she looped her arm through his, he smiled and handed a martini over to her.

           “Dan, Emily, this is my wife, Elizabeth.” Blair extended her hand to the two, and fawning over the wife’s dress when she heard Arthur in her ear saying that the husband was one of the kidnappers. _Gotta make connections._

           “Richard here was just telling us that you’re both new to D.C. How are you two enjoying it so far?” Dan, the husband, directed at her.

           “Oh, it’s lovely! Darling really. We love the history, right love?” Austin chuckled and nodded his head, urging Blair to continue. “I’ve always wanted to come here. It’s no surprise that I’m not from the states, but I’ve always found your political system so interesting. The party dynamics are so different than there were in England. We’re waiting for my dual citizenship papers to go through, but we want to get involved in our new home as soon as possible.” _They are eating it up._

           “Oh Elizabeth! I can get you started! Richard mentioned how much work you did organizing charity events? Well I do the same thing, but my group fundraises to bring awareness of the issues to the public.” Emily laid her hand on Blair’s wrist in excitement at the possibility of bringing someone new in.

           “Emily, I’d love that!”

           “What kind of issues does your organization want to bring attention to?” Austin budded in. Both Dan and Emily laughed.

           “Well, we’re a bit liberal! I hope that doesn’t scare you off!” Emily said, getting an even louder laugh from her husband. Blair and Austin looked at each other, knowing that this couple will get them to the right people. “Our big project now is bringing awareness to the legalization of a small class of drugs. See, there is a big vote coming up in Congress,” _bingo_ , “and legalizing these drugs would flood the treasury, which is exactly what this country needs right now. Dan, why don’t you introduce Richard to some of your work friends, and I’ll bring Elizabeth along to meet the girls. We are much more fun than those boys talking business!” Blair laughed along with Emily, allowing herself to be dragged away from Austin and Dan.

           Across the hall, Harry was engaged in a conversation with a man in his mid-40s, dressed to the nines to try and outweigh the smallness of his body. The man was short and thin, wearing glasses that looked like they have been run over with a car, but it was clear that he was the most respected man in the room. He had a group of people surrounding him, including a few guards, but his attention was focused on Harry, who was standing to his side, full body facing him, as they engaged in a conversation that was not meant for the public. The man in charge looked rather taken by Harry, impressed by his willingness to seek him out and amused by the skill set Blair knew Harry was offering him. Blair was able to make out his voice, but the words were being drowned out by Austin talking to Dan and the other husbands, but Blair knew Harry had reeled in the attention of the head.

           “...and so I said, ‘absolutely not. A phone bank isn’t enough! If you want the make connections with the public and really get them to listen to you, you have to go door-to-door. It’s common sense!’ And she would just not take my word for it, and we lost that vote. Needless to say, I was in charge the next time around, and we won,” a lady named Joan droned on. Blair forced herself to laugh politely, symbolically showing her agreeance with the rest of the women. Emily laughed the hardest, clearly having experienced the same disagreement in another situation. The conversation continued as Blair sipped her martini and shifted her eyes to the upper level. There were two staircases up, and she could occasionally see people wandering up, so it must not have been off limits. _Or you have to belong._ She let her eyes wander, throwing in an occasional laugh for appearances, but then Austin’s voice picked up in her ear.

           “Quite right, Ryan, no chance of gridlock, or at least what you’ve all experienced here, in Great Britain. Moving there to be with my wife was something that I have never regretted, but I’ve missed the states, although serious something has to be done about this political system...” _Gridlock._ That was their predetermined key word.

           “Excuse me ladies, it was lovely to meet you, but I must be finding my husband now.” She shook the hands of a few and then spotted Austin walking towards her from the other side of the room. When they met in the middle, he held out her hand, asking for a dance. Blair obliged, figuring this was as good as a cover as they could get if he needed to tell her something privately. Austin pulled her in close, and smiled down at her.

           “Are you having a good time love?” _Gag me._

           “Of course, the girls were wonderful. How was your talk with the boys?” Blair asked, opening up the dialogue for why he used their word.

           “Oh, it was good. Some great guys over there. Very smart.”

           “And...?” He just smiled even wider down at her, and she was getting pissed. Going for a kiss on the cheek, she growled in his ear, “why the fuck did you say ‘gridlock’?”

           “Just wanted your attention. I wanted to get a dance in with my beautiful wife,” he explained, hand on her waist dipping dangerously low. She stomped her foot on his toe, careful to not nick him with the blade even though she desperately want to, and kept her face free of anger so to not draw attention. “Now now, Elizabeth. That’s no way to act in public,” he tsked. It was hard to contain her anger then, and Austin finally gave in. “Alright, alright, one of the guys slipped up and said that there’s a library on the second floor that he’d show me. We were talking about some book that he had leant to the mark, and he knew it was upstairs. But then one of his friends elbowed him in the side, and he apologized and said that that room was being used for something else tonight.” _Finally._

          “Let’s get up there.”


	18. Chapter 18

            Andrew whipped his head to the nearest guard, thinking that he had heard a gunshot. He knew that Blair and Austin wouldn’t be stupid enough to intentionally use their guns this close to the action, but it was possible that they had been shot at first. None of the guards made a move though, and James shot him a subtle look asking if he was alright. With a slight nod, he rejoined the conversation they had been having with two financial analysts about joining the company. It had been 15 minutes or so since Blair and Austin had made their move to the second floor, but they’ve had near radio silence since then, except for the occasional safe word “babe,” which Austin had suggested. _The prick._

            In his peripheral vision, Andrew could see Harry still smooth talking the big man, but he wondered how much longer he could keep his interest. They hadn’t been there for an incredibly long time, but Andrew had hoped that they would be progressing a bit more quickly than they had been. He also felt useless. He and James had been on the lookout for anything peculiar on the main floor, but they knew that whatever area was being used to hold the captives, they wouldn’t be able to get through all of the guards and simultaneously get the politicians out without drawing any attention. They needed Blair and Austin to take out the first round of guards before they could go anything. And it was killing him.

            “We’ve got something.” Andrew kept his breathing controlled, not letting his face give way to relief. “Second floor, back of the mansion – few minute walk from the front staircase. Four guards. All carrying guns,” Blair rattled off. James handled the conversation, letting Andrew listen for specifics. “We’re going in, stand by.”

            He waited and he could hear the struggle. It was quiet, and thankfully far enough away to not draw attention, but he stood on edge anyways, waiting to see if there would be gun shots. He waited to see guards being called for backup. But there was nothing other than the sporadic grunt from the couple. James excused them from the conversation, practically dragging Andrew to the bar.

            “We need drinks. Right now.” He ordered something from the bartender, and pushed a small glass into Andrew’s hand. “Drink. We’ve just go to wait for the right offer.” _Translation: There’s nothing we can do to help them right now._ Andrew sipped gingerly at his gin and tonic, eyes kept on the walls, on the guards. The voices in his head faded, and he waited, and watched. And he had nothing.

            “Status report,” Eggsy called in. “Blair? Austin? Status report, now.” The line was silent, and then there was a cough at the other end.

            “Sorry, we’re okay. I repeat, we are okay. Guards have been tied up and stored in a broom closet. Entering room now,” there was a sign of relief from command, and Andrew couldn’t tell if it was coming from Eggsy or Arthur at that point. He felt himself breathe out a sigh of relief, as he heard a heavy sounding pair of doors thrown open. Austin called out his checks, and Blair hers, and then he heard something he had been dreading.

            “There’s nothing here. No one is here,” Austin scoffed. “It’s a fucking library and it’s fucking empty!”

            “Keep your voice down, Richard. Jesus. Alright, help me barricade the door. There’s gotta be something...” She was frustrated, even more so than the rest, because from the sound of it, Austin was being useless.

            “Blair, Austin, I need you guys to look for a hidden passage. If there were that many guards, then there is something in there. My heat registers aren’t working from this far away, so you’re going to have to do it yourself.”

            “Yes, Arthur, we’ll be right on it.”

            “Harry, you’re doing well, alright? Keep getting him to talk, see if he’ll give you an idea of what’s next based on how the vote goes. James, Andrew, time for you to go. You need to start looking around by yourselves. We haven’t triggered any alarms, but time-wise, this isn’t going as planned. Be careful. Start of the opposite side of the second floor and make your way back to the library. Go.”

            With drinks in hand, Andrew and James accented to the second floor with no issues. This was a much less crowded scene, meaning that they had to look even more like they belonged there. The best way to do that was to look like they knew where they were going, so they walked briskly, keeping their eyes peeled, but there was nothing to see. The farther they got back, the less security there was, and that was alarming. It either meant that nothing was on this side of the building, or they were being watched. Andrew saw them then, the cameras hidden in the lights.

            “Arthur? There’s security cameras everywhere back here. They have to know we’re here,” he whispered, hear racing.

            “Not yet, they don’t. Cut the footage as you two began walking to the stairs. Someone will be out to check the area though. They be coming from behind, so get moving.” They started jogging then, still not sure what they were looking for. Off in the distance, James pointed to the hall, diverging into two separate paths.

            “We’ll cover more ground if we separate,” James offered. Andrew was hesitant to let his partner go, but they had no choice: they were running out of time to get out of that hall.

            “Yeah, alright, safe words every three minutes. Got it?”

            “Good luck, Andrew,” James said, giving his friend a small wave.

            “You too, James.” Andrew took the path on the right. It was more dimly light, filled with reds and blacks on the walls, but still empty. _What the fuck? There has to be something._ He decided to start opening doors and checking the rooms quickly for any clues. Half way down the hall, he found his first locked door. Pulling out a pen from his inner suit pocket, he used it to jimmy the door, gaining access into an office.

            He was already at the desk inserting his USB when Arthur told him to get online. The desktop sprung to life, and within seconds, Arthur had the files. Andrew walked the perimeter of the room, finding no windows, only books, and books did not help his situation.

            “Stay there until I comb through these, alright?” Arthur basically commanded. “Eggsy, flip the monitors to Blair and Austin. They’ve been quiet for a while.” Andrew sat down at the desk, listening for Eggsy to confirm their location.

            “Arthur! All I can see through either one of their glasses is... what is that? Shit. It’s the bottom of the bookcases, they turn into cabinets at the bottom." Andrew’s heart stopped, and he stood up automatically.

            “Arthur, let me go find them!”

            “Hold off, Andrew.” Arthur barked. “Jason, pull up the heartrate monitors.” _Heartrate monitors? We aren’t fuckin’ wearin’ ‘em, Arthur!_ “No, no, they’re alright. Both of them are accelerated, but they are alive. Their glasses probably got thrown off. Eggsy, keep watching. Andrew, lower your heartrate. They are alive.” Andrew threw himself back in the chair, breathing in and out like he saw Blair do on their first night after being flooded. Arthur, sensing Andrew’s question, explained that their watches were made to always rest on their wrist pulses, so he could monitor them that way.

            “You motherfucker, we are on a mission,” Blair was angry, but her voice sounded out through the glasses and Andrew had never been so happy to hear someone before.

            “Eggsy? Wha’s goin’ on?” Andrew asked his mentor, not expecting Arthur to be paying attention to him with whatever was going on, but Eggsy didn’t respond to him either.

            “Blair? Why were your glasses on the floor? You can’t fuckin’ take those off. You scared us shitless,” Eggsy breathed out, and Andrew assumed that her glasses were now back on.

            “We’re fine,” Austin spoke through gritted teeth. “Just doing our jobs.”

            “Austin, if you don’t mind, I’d like Blair to report back,” Arthur deadpanned. Their breathing was heavy, as if they had been fighting off guards much more heavily armed, but something was off.

            “It won’t happen again, Arthur. I think I may have found a passage through.” _She’s covering something up._ But Arthur let it go for now, and walked them through the next passage, handing Andrew off to Eggsy.

            “Andrew, I fuckin’ hate that kid,” he huffed. “Alright, Arthur couldn’t find anythin’ in the emails – they are all coded and we don’t have time to figure them out. We need you to get to the security control center in the mansion, and they should have cameras watchin’ the prisoners. I’m gonna lead you through it.”

* * *

            Blair led the way through the tunnel, relaying information to Arthur and refusing to look back at Austin. She’d admit, they both hit a low when they got into the library and saw nothing. But instead of looking for something, because there had to be something if there were guards outside, Austin decided that them being alone in the library was the perfect time to convince her that in order to play the part of husband and wife, they should take their physical relationship a bit farther. He had snuck up behind her when she had looking for clues, and immediately took her glasses off and threw them to the other side of the room, with his own in tow.

            She couldn’t very well scream, drawing her teams’ attention, because it would have also drawn the enemy to them. Austin was stronger though, and when he pinned her wrists against a bookcase, things were looking grim. But Blair could smell the alcohol on his breath, indicating that he had had at least another martini or two before they had come upstairs. So when she was able to maneuver her legs enough to knee him in the groin, the pain plus the tipsiness provided her the time to run over and grab her glasses and get away from him.

            Now, here they were, in a dingy and dark tunnel, and he was dragging his feet, and she wanted nothing more than to kill him for being a constant annoyance in her life since becoming a recruit. _But I am a professional. And I’m on a mission, god dammit._ They were nearly at a corner, and as they approached it, Blair heard another pair of shoes mix in with Austin’s. She turned and held out her hand to him, and when he heard it too, his anger at her turned into seriousness at the situation. The other footsteps became softer when Austin’s feet were still, but whoever it was, was still coming towards them.

            Blair and Austin became one with the wall, molding themselves to fit in so they wouldn’t be seen, but there wasn’t enough room, and then there were gun shots being fired in their direction. Blair shot back at the man, hitting his knee, causing her to leap for the gun that had gone flying through the air. Austin’s headshot splattered blood on the back of her dress, but he had saved her from the second gun the guard pulled from his pants. Grabbing their new weapons, they peered around the corner seeing two more guards headed their way, and one was about to call for backup.

            She aimed for the one off to the far right, hitting his radio and his shoulder, tearing though both. Dodging the other man’s bullets, she dropped her empty gun as Austin reloaded and fired a whole round at the two men. They fell the floor, and Blair could hear Arthur saying that no signal had gone out to command, but it was likely that the next station of guards would have heard the shots and were sending backup. They had to move, and they had to do it now. Grabbing the shoulder of his suit jacket, Blair pulled Austin away from the dead guards and ran down the corridor until they reached a fork. Austin told her to stand as still as possible as he walked a few feet down each tunnel and listened for impending footsteps.

            “The right. Go to the fucking right, they’re coming!” He whisper-shouted, taking the lead. They ran, no longer caring about how loud their footsteps pounded on the concrete.

* * *

             James had been quiet. He had been listening to his feed, and due to all of the gunfire he ended up hearing, he decided to take things a bit slower on his side, trying to be thorough in his sweep, but also trying to avoid all of the commotion. The room he was currently exploring was a master bedroom, one of many he assumed, but had been quite dull, just like all of the other rooms he had checked. That was, until he entered the closet. Instead of shoes, this closet displayed weaponry, and it was even cooler than the Kingsman’s weapons room. These were military grade gadgets, ranging from bazookas to hand grenades to snipers. _What the fuck do they think is going to happen in this place?_ But then he realized that they were preparing for exactly what the recruits were doing, and he almost laughed at the irony. But he was cut short by the sound of the doorknob jiggling.

* * *

            “It’s just around the corner, there’s two guard on the outside and at least two inside. I’m working on gettin’ you the door code, but you’re gonna have to get rid of the guards yourself.” _Fuck me. Okay, get rid of the two guards on the outside of the door, without alerting the guards on the inside, and then get rid of those on the inside without alerting the entire building. Got it._ Andrew looked around the hall he was in, not seeing very many places to hide, except for an incredibly small alcove near a stand-alone lamp. _If you can get just one of them to come over here..._ and that’s when he jogged over to the lamp, and kicked it down, getting the glass to shatter loud enough to be heard from command. _If they’re doing their jobs, then someone is going to have to come check on that._

            He squeezed into the hiding place, and waited for the sound of cushioned footsteps to approach the lamp. Between the darkness of his suit and the blackness of his corner, the guard stepped right past him to examine the lamp, and that’s when Andrew made his move. Reaching a hand around to the guard’s mouth, he covered it with one hand, and then used the butt of his gun to knock out his counterpart. He didn’t have long to drag the body to the alcove, before the next guard came around, much more carefully this time. He spotted Andrew, but he wasn’t quick enough with his gun, allowing Andrew to active his signet ring. Throwing a punch, his hand made contact with the guard’s check, electrifying him and rendering him useless.

            “Yes Andrew! Well done,” Eggsy shouted from the safety of the limo. “Alright, drag the body over, and then I’ll give you the code.”

            “Don’t need the code, bruv, got the badge,” he said, holding up a plastic card for Eggsy to see.

            “Looks like someone’s been payin’ attention in class. Now, go get in there.” Andrew didn’t need to be told twice as he walked over to command, and held up the badge, granting his access. The guards didn’t turn around immediately, likely figuring that it was one of their own since their equipment didn’t pick up any foul play with the scan, but when they did, they were met with amnesia darts right in their necks.

            “Eggsy, I’m in. Can Arthur change the security codes so that no one else can get in?”

            “You bet I can,” Arthur chimed in. “Well done, Andrew.” It was hard to repress his grin then as he thanked his superior. “Alright, now let’s take a look at those cameras, shall we?

* * *

             Feeling like they were far enough away from the fork in the tunnel, Blair and Austin allowed themselves to slow down and walk, listening closely for echoes. It didn’t seem feasible, but the tunnel had gotten darker the farther they got into the massive network. She wasn’t even entirely sure that they were still in the main house anymore. Austin was reverting back to his angry self, but she wouldn’t say anything about it as long as he didn’t start dragging his feet again.

            “Austin? Blair? Do you copy?”

            “Yes, Arthur,” they both whispered together.

            “Good, now there should be another fork coming up, and this one will have four different tunnels. Counting from left to right, I want you to go down the third. Andrew has gotten control of the security cameras, and we know which rooms are being used to hold the captives. You’ll need to be quiet until you reach the guards, and at that point, use your guns. You’re far enough away that it will hopefully not draw too much attention from the head. Andrew and James will be responding shortly after to free the prisoners, and while they are doing that, I am going to help the two of you find a safe route out of the building to the buses that’ll be showing up on my command.”

            “Approaching the fork now, will report once guards are taken down,” Blair said softly, extremely careful of how her voice would carry. Just like before, Austin made her stop at the fork as he listened down the third tunnel, trying to determine how long they could go before they reached the guards. Holding up his hand, he stood longer than he did before, and when he lowered it, he pulled her farther from the entrance before he started speaking.

            “There are definitely guards down there, but I can only make out the slightest sound of a laugh, so we probably have a bit of a walk to get to them.” Blair shook her head, eyes cast in the direction of the tunnel. Reaching into her purse, she pulled out a fresh round of bullets and reloaded.

            “Might as well have guns out now. All good to go?”

            “Let’s get this over with,” he huffed. With Blair on the right and Austin on the left, they proceeded side by side down the third tunnel, keeping their noise to a minimum, and pausing every time one of them accidentally kicked a pebble.

            They had been at it for another five minutes when they heard the noise start to pick up, and Blair found herself praying that the tunnel would come to a corner at some point so they wouldn’t just walk right up to the guards. Austin was getting nervous too, as he had them stopping every ten feet so he could attempt to make out a number of voices.

            “Blair? Austin? Respond with head nods, not voices.” Arthur came in, and they both stopped in their tracks and shook their heads. “You’re very close now. Based on what Andrew told us, there is only one door to the captives’ room, and that door has security only on the one side. There should be six guards right there, all with military grade equipment. I think they’ll stick to guns though, since the backlash from explosions down there would hurt them as well. Proceed with caution.” Arthur sounded tense, and Blair desperately wanted to know how Andrew, James, and Harry were fairing, but Austin was already on the move, and there was no time to think about anything else other than the guards they’d be facing.

            There was a soft yellow glow being emitted down the hall, and the sound of laughter got louder as they made their approach. There was no corner to hide, so they pulled themselves into the wall again and shuffled their way closer. Grabbing Austin’s wrist, Blair made them pause 25 feet away from their marks. They both leaned their heads out from the shadows to get a better look, and saw that the men weren’t paying any attention to their surroundings. They were all big men, and carried extensive weaponry, like Arthur knew they would, but Blair agreed that most of it just looked for show – to scare off unwanted visitors like themselves. The tunnel had to be ten feet wide, at most, and any explosion would be too concentrated. There was also the possibility that if the explosion was strong enough, it could damage the door to the prisoners, allowing them to potentially escape, which would defeat the purpose.

            Austin tilted his head towards the guards, and Blair nodded at him, signaling that she was ready to go. Shoving her gun back in her purse, she started walking towards the guards, not hiding anything at all. When they heard her heels click, they all jumped up, pointing their guns at her, and she let out a terrified gasp. Throwing her hands up in the air, she yielded the power to them.

            “Oh god, I am so sorry guys. I clearly am somewhere I shouldn’t be. You see, I was upstairs, and well... shoot, this is embarrassing,” she paused, watching their guns go down slightly. _Keep going._ “So, I got into a fight with my husband, and I ended up talking to one of the guards, and well, we were going to meet up in the library where I could be a bit of revenge on my husband. He said there was a small room within the library where we would have complete privacy. But then he never showed up and the door wouldn’t open back into the library, so I just walked and now here I am. I am so sorry, really, it was stupid idea in the first place,” making herself close to tears, she began walking slowly towards them, hands still slightly above her head. “But do you think one of you could help me find my way back out?”

            The men all looked around at each other, trying to decide what to do when one of them pushed his way to the front of the small group and told his men that he’s escort her back upstairs. Blair finally lowered her hands, letting one fall to her side while the other adjusted her purse strap. She was still messing with what looked like to be a faulty strap when the man approached her. Blair looked up at him innocently, apologizing for her mistake, and unknown to him, for the damage she was about to cause.

            Before he knew it, Blair thrown him into a choke hold, throwing his gun behind her to a waiting Austin, who then started firing bullets at the stunned guards. The man was clawing at Blair, ripping red lines down her arm. She was forced to let him go when a bullet rushed past her head, and she fell to the ground. Instinctively reaching for her purse, she pulled out a gun and fired two shots into the man looming over her. Rolling out of the way as he fell, she threw herself back up, finding Austin struggling with two guards who had gotten hold of his gun. She willed him to stop struggling, and when he caught her eyes, he used all of his strength to throw himself to the ground, pulling the two guards with him. Their heads smashed together and Blair sent three shots in a straight line, instantly killing them.

            Austin grabbed one of the men’s larger guns, and began shooting towards the remaining three guards, but their skills far outweighed their partners. Two of them stood in front of the third who was speaking rapidly into a walkie-talkie. Blair felt the bullets hit her bullet-proof dress, but it wasn’t enough to stop the one that grazed her arm. Screaming out in pain and rage, she unloading her round, focusing on the man calling for backup, but she wasn’t fast enough. Behind Austin, she saw another ten men heading right for them. She yelled for Austin to turn around, indicating that she’d finish these three, while he started blowing bullets into the others. When he finally heard her over the chaos, she went back to the two men left standing after a number of shots finally brought down one.

            She fired shot after shot until her gun started clicking, having run out of ammunition. Using her purse for a shield, Blair ran right into their fire, dropping it when she was close enough to spin through the air, splicing through their skin with her blades. Dropping their own guns, they attempted to grab Blair, but their hand-to-hand combat wasn’t as skilled as their gun slinging. Throwing punches right and left, she beat their faces in and used her ring to deliver fatal blows. Ending those two, she stumbled towards her dropped purse only to find it in the hands of another guard. Looking for Austin to help her by taking the man out, she couldn’t see him anywhere. Frantically, she looked around of mounds of dead bodies, hoping not to find him in their presence, but she didn’t have enough time to search, as the man with her purse and three others behind him were closing in on her.

* * *

             “Now, sir, what would happen if this vote didn’t pan out? I mean,” Harry leaned down, whispering the next part, “you’ve got all of these leaders right? Don’t give me that look, Val, you didn’t have to tell me for me to know who was behind this, and you should know by now that I applaud your actions, but what are you going to do with them? Surely you can’t just release them, right? Something has to be done about this _fucking_ system that gets the people to realize how _fucking stupid and careless_ their representatives are,” Harry seethed. He had been talking to the head for the last hour and a half, and if he was being honest with himself, the anger he had managed to pull together for this mission had scared him. He had basically convinced not only his mark that he was a killer at heart, but himself, and right now, he was livid that he wasn’t in the action.

            For the last ten minutes or so, he could hear nothing but gunfire from his glasses. It got to the point that Arthur had to turn down the others’ frequency so he could focus on his conversation and whatever Arthur had to tell him, which hadn’t been much in a while. Part of him was glad that he had this job, this was what he was good at – manipulating people into believing whatever he told them, and it was good to show off his skills, but he knew that this could make him look weaker than the others.

            “And what would you have me do?” Val smirked at him. Without any hesitation, Harry offered a brutal suggestion.

            “Make examples of them. Show the people and the politicians that when they make the wrong choices, they have to deal with the consequences. Get rid of them. Root them out one by one, and show the country that you aren’t fucking around.” Val laughed, and clapped him on the back.

            “Maybe you do belong with us –” but Val was cut off by a guard inserting himself into the conversation. Val walked slightly away from Harry, but not far enough away for Harry not to hear the important parts of the conversation.

            “Sir, there’s been an intruder in the West Wing. He was apprehended, but killed the guard, and has been seen running to the East Wing, where we have had reports of multiple gunshots and fatalities,” he whispered. Val’s ears were turning red then, and he had to control himself before he had an outburst that would cause panic.

            “Why the _fuck_ didn’t I know about the East Wing beforehand? Huh?! That’s off limits. Get backup down there now, and take me with you,” he growled. Turning back to Harry, he apologized, and said that he was needed elsewhere. “I’ll be back soon to talk about your plans though.”

            As Val left with security, Harry began to panic. The gunshots he had been hearing must have been from the East Wing, and he knew that Blair and Austin were down there last. He was the only recruit left in the ballroom, and he had to pull himself together. Walking across the dance floor, he tried to get Arthur’s attention, but he wasn’t responding.

            “Anyone there? What the fuck is happening?” It was Cliff’s deep voice that responded to him, incredibly panicked.

            “Harry, stay where you are. We have a situation, and we need you to stay in the ballroom and keep an eye out for guard movements... Shit!” He yelled, distracted. “Fuck, Harry, stay there.”


	19. Chapter 19

            He couldn’t breathe. His vision had gone blurry, and the only thing he could see was her monitor, and her monitor didn’t show much. One of her lenses had been punched out, and now her feed was black and white and it was going in and out, and he didn’t know how much longer it would last. He could vaguely hear Arthur shouting to Cliff, and maybe to him, but he couldn’t tell anymore.

            “Galahad!” The name didn’t register. “Eggsy! I need you!” Suddenly, Arthur was in front of him, grabbing him by the shoulders, and trying to snap him out of it. Eggsy tried to focus on Arthur’s glasses, just his glasses, because if he saw his face, he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from losing it. “Eggsy, she needs us right now.” That pulled him back to reality. “Eggsy, I need you to take over Andrew and James’ feeds, so I can figure out where they are taking Blair. Jason will be floating between all five recruits, so if you need him, get him. Andrew and James have met up and they have entered the library passage. I need you to direct them to the captives’ room. This,” he said, handing Eggsy a USB drive, “has the way out on it. Once they’ve reached the captives, plug this is, and lead them to the buses. They are on standby. They _will_ run into guards, prepare them for that.”

            Eggsy shook his head, furiously wiping at a tear that had escaped. Heading to the other side of the limo where Arthur had pulled up backup monitors and a computer station, Eggsy began to work. Adjusting his glasses, he lowered the volume of all of the recruits, except for Andrew and James’s, but then he went back and turned up Blair’s, just in case. He took a deep breath before addressing his candidate and his candidate’s partner.

            “Andrew? James? Come in.”

            “Eggsy, we’re both ‘ere,” Andrew came through, with James throwing in a grunt of acknowledgement. “We’re gettin’ close to a fork, which way are we goin’?”

            “To the right. The next fork will be up in a few minutes. Countin’ from left to right, go down the third tunnel then.”

            “Got it,” there was a slight hesitation before Andrew asked if everything was alright. Eggsy felt the words get caught in his throat, but they needed to know, and they would know once they got to the guards anyways.

            “Blair... Blair’s been taken by the head himself. And Austin, well, I don’t know where the fuck he is,” he said, glancing over to the dickhead’s screen as he was climbing down a window trellis, “but he left Blair.” There was silence on the other side of the line, but Eggsy saw their speed pick up and then two guards pop up out of nowhere. Andrew killed them both.

* * *

             “Austin, state your location.”

            “Arthur, I’m hiding the in rose garden,” he whispered, through the bushes.

            “Hiding from what exactly? The action is inside.” Arthur was trying so hard to keep his voice steady, but Austin was making that exceptionally difficult. He had of course tried getting in touch with Blair first, but he wasn’t getting a response, making him think that she was unconscious at the moment. But she was alone for the time being, so there was nothing he could do.

            “The guards, Arthur. Did you see them? They were everywhere, there was nowhere to go. We – I was surrounded. I had to make an escape. It wasn’t safe.”

            “You’re right, Austin. It wasn’t safe, but that doesn’t mean that you leave your partner! Do you know where she is right now? Do you have any clue what has happened to her, because you left her alone when things went tits up?” He didn’t bother waiting for an answer. “She’s been taken hostage, Austin. The head got her. She is being held prisoner right now, because you left her.” The line was silent, and Austin’s feed was frozen. “What the fuck do you have to say for yourself?”

            “The bitch deserved it.”

* * *

             She was vaguely aware of the wet concrete she had been thrown down on and how her glasses had seen better days, but it was searing pain in her left arm that dominated the thoughts running through her head. She had been lying there for a few minutes, trying to recall what had happened and how she had gotten there, but the most important parts were a blur. She knew she was on a mission, and that she had been Austin’s wife all night. She knew that they had found themselves in some labyrinth within the mansion. She vaguely remembered fighting off the guards at the door to the captives’ room, and then... Then it all went black. She didn’t know what had happened to Austin, let alone herself. The only sound she could hear from the floor was her own ragged breathing, and the air smelled damp and _metallic?_ The metallic smell that was commonly associated with blood. Her blood, she would have guessed.

           The smell started to overwhelm her then, and when mixed with the burning pain of her arm, she felt nauseous. Blair tried to sit up, clutching her arm to her as she moved. She didn’t want to look at it, she couldn’t look at it, as she knew that that was where all of the blood was coming from. Blood was not something that usually caused such a physical reaction in her, but she’s never seen this much of her own pooling around her, and it felt like she was empty – she had to be empty soon. Carefully running her fingers over the skin, she knew she had to assess the damage when she felt something hard and wet wedging its way through her skin. _Please be glass or a knife or something. I can handle that._  Forcing herself to look, she saw a shard of bone sticking out of her skin, glistening in blood. Whatever there was in her stomach, and it wasn’t much, flooded out of her mouth then, the ferocity of it throwing her to her knees, like she had been praying.

            As she lay down on her right side, away from the blood and vomit, she tried to regulate her breathing, but her throat was on fire, and she could feel the blood slowly running its lazy way down her arm, and she thought she was going crazy. Soon a ticking sound started up in her brain, fueling the thought that she was going mad, and all she wanted was for this nightmare to cease. But then the ticking turned into a vibration-based noise, almost like someone was humming her name. She felt like she was drowning, completely underwater, and someone was calling for her, but she just couldn’t extend her arm far enough to grab on to the noise. And then there was yelling, coherent yelling, and it was her name, that much she knew for sure.

           “Blair? Blair! Can you hear me?” She knew that voice, but her head felt foggy and she wanted to sleep. “Blair? It’s Arthur. Blair?” _Arthur_. It all came back then - the guards coming at her, Austin was nowhere to be seen, her glasses had been punched in and her dress ripped as one of the guards tore off her shoes, cutting himself in the process, and then the man Harry had been talking to stood in front of her, deciding her fate then and there: “Get rid of her.”

           “Arthur?” she choked out, “I don’t know where I am.” And it was true. Right after the mark decided that she was to be finished, his boys started the job right on the spot. She had to be held be four guards while two additional ones took their turns in punishing her for their fallen brothers. They went for her stomach and her throat, and she remembered twisting so hard from the guards that when they gained the control of her back, they had snapped her arm in the process. Blair could hear the sound then, the sound of her arm cracking, like a twig, and her brain showed her how she crumpled to the floor in front of her six assailants. The nausea returned, but there was nothing left to give.

           “Blair, listen to me. You’re in the basement of the mansion. Blair, I need you to stand, okay? I know it hurts, but I need you to stand and tell me when you see. The sooner we can get you out, the sooner we can fix that arms of yours, okay?” Blair hoped that her glasses were still working, because she could only manage to nod her head, not trusting her mouth. Using her good arm, she managed to pull herself into a crawling position, heading to the nearest wall, so she could pull herself up. Her legs were shaking and she felt dizzy, but she knew Arthur was right, and that she needed to pull herself together so she could make it out of there without being stuffed into a body bag.

           “It’s big, very big, Arthur,” she breathed out. “It’s dark too, no windows. I can’t find a light switch,” she detailed, after walking the length of one wall.

           “Blair, can you find the stairs for me? I’m sure the door has been locked, but if we know what kind of door it is, you might be able to break through it yourself. If not, we’ll know what tools to send down to open it.” _He sounds tense_ , and Blair knew that it was because of her. He was already such an on-edge guy that whenever she heard his voice like this, she felt awful for the constant amount of stress he was put under. And this time, it was her causing the damage. Shaking the thoughts from her head, she continued to gaze around the room.

           “Hold on, I can see them,” she said, eyes adjusting to the darkness. As she began the ascent, she found it harder and harder to breath with every individual stair, and she knew that more of her body was broken than just her arm. She rested for a second halfway up the staircase, listening to the conversation that was seemingly inside her head.

           “How is she doing?” It was Eggsy, voice shaking as it came through her glasses.

           “She’s going to be okay once we get her out of there.” _Once you get out of there, Blair, keep moving._ Reaching the top, she pressed her hand to the door, feeling cold, smooth metal against her fingertips. The coldness felt so nice that she flushed her body up against it before reporting to Arthur. Her heart sank when the door grew warm against her, and when she realized that metal was the worst thing to be dealing with right now.

           “Metal door? Okay. That means nothing to us, Blair, we are still going to get you out.” She nodded her head, wanting to believe him, but refusing to get her hopes up. She could bleed out before they are able to sneak back in, make their way past the guards and down to her. “Have you made your way around the whole room then?”

           “Not yet. I’ll go back down now.” Walking down was so much easier breathing-wise, that she noticed something she hadn’t before: the way her bare feet sounded on the wooden steps. They sounded hollow. As Blair reached the bottom of the staircase, she turned to her right, and let her good hand drag itself over the wall. Right before she reached the corner, her hand caught on a metal slit. Feeling around more of the area, she could feel a crack in the paneling.

            “Arthur, I think I might have found something.” She tugged at the cool metal of what ended up being a handle to another door, revealing a small room underneath the staircase. Before entering, Blair felt around for a light switch, but was yet again disappointed. Carefully making her way inside the small room anyways, she found that she didn’t need a light switch, for there was a soft glow being emitted from the center of the room. Taking a step closer, her breath caught in her throat, as she heard Arthur yell, “Don’t go any closer!”

            “Is that – please Arthur, tell me that isn’t what I think it is.” Arthur didn’t directly answer her, but what he said still shook her to the core.

            “Yeah, guys? We have a problem. Blair’s locked in the basement, and she just found a bomb.”

* * *

             “Blair, I need you to remain calm, alright? Stand right where you are, I’m going to get a read on the clock and see how much time we have.” Arthur zoomed in on her feed, and saw that they had just under ten minutes. _Shit._

            “Arthur,” Jason called out, “Harry just radioed in that the mansion is being evacuated.” Glancing out through the tinted windows, Arthur saw people beginning to pour out of the estate and into their cars.

            “Shit, right, get Harry to the limo. Eggsy? Eggsy, where are Andrew and James at with the captives?” Arthur didn’t want Eggsy to be here. After everything that happened with Harry, Eggsy wouldn’t be able lose someone else, and Arthur knew that Blair meant something to the boy. It’ll drive him mad. _We should have never done this – it was too risky._ “Eggsy?”

            “Sorry. Sorry, Arthur,” he said softly, trying to control his facial expressions. “They... they’re on their way out. Guards are being evacuated too, so no one is paying much attention to them.”

            “Keep an eye on them. Get them back to the limo ASAP.” Turning his attention back to Blair, he told her to walk towards the bomb, but to not touch it. “I need you to tell me what color wires you see, that’ll help us figure out which wires to cut.” _Cut with what though? She doesn’t have anything down there, not even her shoes._ Blair was crying, soft sobs emitting through glasses. “Blair, you are not going to die down there. Do you understand me? I will not allow it.”

            “Yes, Arthur,” she hiccupped. Walking slowly towards the device, she leaned over it, and peered down. Her glasses showed three wires, but since her feed had been compromised, Arthur was going to need her to describe everything to him. “They are all the same shade of green. Arthur, we – how will we know?”

            “Blair, back up for now. Give me a minute to come up with a plan. You’re going to be alright.” Arthur muted his microphone then, turning to Jason and Eggsy. Jason just shook his head, and Arthur knew that he was right. They couldn’t risk cutting the wires without knowing which was which. It was a suicide mission that was going to last for approximately nine more minutes.

            “Arthur, let me go. Let me go and get her. I can reach her. I have the map, I’ll get through the door. Please, we can’t – we can’t do this to her.” Eggsy’s tears had subsided, and he put on his bravest face, and begged to be let go. Arthur was reminded then of V-Day, and how this young man, who had just been dismissed less than 24 hours before, saved the entire world from destruction. If anyone could do this, it was him, but Arthur didn’t want to risk losing Eggsy either. “Arthur, I’m asking as a formality, but nothing is going to stop me from going,” he said, grabbing his gear.

            “I know, Eggsy. But I want you out of that building, though, you hear me? You better get both of your arses back here.” Eggsy found the will to smile then, and Arthur unmuted his glasses.

            “Blair, Eggsy’s coming down to get you. I need you to go back up to the door, and see if you can find a way to loosen it for him. Do whatever you can.”

            “No, no, Arthur. Don’t send him in here. What if he doesn’t make it out?”

            “What if you don’t make it out?” Eggsy rang through their ears, switching his frequency to their conversation.

            “Eggsy, are you out of your mind? I have no family left, alright? What’s going to happen to your mom and Daisy if you don’t come home tonight? Please, do this for me. Don’t come down here.” Blair was full on sobbing then, and Arthur couldn’t take it. He couldn’t lose either of them, so he gestured for Eggsy to hurry up while he still had time.

            “I’m comin’ down there, Blair. I can’t lose you, so stop tryin’ to talk me out of it, and get yourself to that door. I’m on my way.” Eggsy casted a final look to Arthur and Jason, but he was gone before they could say anything.

* * *

           Eggsy was nearly at the front door, pushing through the crowds, when he heard someone shouting his name. He let his head turn slightly to see who it was, but he refused to slow down even for a second. He couldn’t afford to slow down. He was just able to make out Andrew’s face, and he watched as Andrew ran right towards him while James ignored them both, running back to the safety of the limo.

            “I’m comin’ with you,” he said, matching his speed to Eggsy’s.

            “Andrew, there’s a bomb down there with her, and we have a little over seven minutes left to get her to the car and out of here before the fuckin’ place blows up,” he said, checking the countdown clock Arthur had thrown up onto his glasses. “You can go back.”

            “Not a chance in hell, bruv. She means something to me too,” Andrew shouted over the crowd, glancing over at his mentor with a knowing look. “Besides, what if you need backup?” Eggsy didn’t think that was likely as they had both watched as the guards ran out, but he didn’t say anything about it, instead reminding himself to properly thank Andrew later, _because there will be a later._

            Once inside the now-deserted mansion, Eggsy steered the duo to the right, running over dropped bottles of champagne and their accompanying flutes. The door they needed to break through was in the very back on the house ( _figures_ ), hidden in a back hallway, that when they found it, turned out to be the service hallway. _If this is like those fancy rich people’s houses in the movies, then don’t the servants normally enter through a different door?_ The hallway fanned out to left and to the right, and he knew by the tracking device in Blair’s glasses that she was to the left, _but what about the door? That could save some time._

            “Andrew, I need you to run right, yeah? Look for a door that leads to an exit. If you find one, call it in to Arthur, and have him bring the car ‘round.”

            “’m on it,” and the two took off in separate directions down a hall in which all three of them would die in if they weren’t out of in four and a half minutes. The hall seemed to go on forever, and Eggsy started to question whether or not their intelligence was right until he saw blood on the floor. He had seen Blair’s arm through her feed, but none of them knew just how badly she was hurt when she was locked away. The smears of blood multiplied as he ran further and further down the hallway, looking for the door that Blair was trapped behind.

            “Blair, can you hear me?” He whispered into thin air.

            “Eggsy? Eggsy, is – is that you?” She sound delirious, which meant she was losing more blood than they had initially thought. “Eggsy, please, go. Please, I don... I can’t let you die with me.”

            “No, no, no, Blair, I’m already here,” he said urgently, lightly tapping on her door. He could hear her tapping back, though it was much weaker than his. “I’m gonna get you out, okay? Andrew’s finding a way out of the building for us. Blair, I need you to back away from the door a bit. Don’t touch it until I tell you to.”

            “Andrew’s here too? No,” she sighed, “no, not him too. This. This is my fault. Arthur?” she called out, “Arthur, come save them. Please come get them out of here.” Eggsy was digging through his suit, trying to find the pen he brought with him when Blair started to cry again.

            “Galahad, you have three minutes. Andrew found the service entrance at the opposite end of the corridor. He’s coming back for you, hurry!” He wanted to throw off his glasses then, as he didn’t need any more reminders. Finally snatching his pen out of his pocket, he threw the cap off to the side, and drew a square that went from the door’s edge, past the lock, and slightly farther into the door than necessary. Eggsy then drew a line from the top of the square to the bottom separating the last inch of the square from the rest, and pulled down on the trigger to active the intense heating liquid in the pen. The liquid burned right through the door, and Blair yelled on the other side, saying that something weird was happening.

            “Don’t touch the metal when it falls, Blair!” Using the top of the pen then, he pushed the small inch of metal through the door, letting it crash down on Blair’s side, and allowing for some wiggle room for the lock slide out. Eggsy had nothing to handle the metal with though, so he ripped off his jacket, balled it around his hands, and ripped the lock off the wall. The metal, still too hot, immediately burned holes into his jacket and singed his skin, causing him to curse in pain, but he could deal with third degree burns later. “Now Blair, push on the side on the door that I didn’t cut through!” He did the same, except slightly to the left of where her hands would have been placed, pushing in as she pushed out, using their combined leverage to open the door.

            The effort she utilized to push from her side caused her to nearly collapse, but Eggsy reached out to grab her in time. Being extremely careful of her arm, and refusing to stare at it for too long, he gently lifted her up, cradling her limp body to his.

            “C’mon Blair, I’ve got you.” He started running then, the countdown on his clock reading a minute and a half before the whole place was going to go up in flames, and Blair blacked out due to the pain of being bounced around by his run. In the distance, he saw Andrew sprinting towards them. “Fuckin’ turn around, Andrew! Run!” He followed the younger boy, running at full speed, and watched as Andrew flung the door to the outside world open. Cliff was standing at the limo, door and arms open, waiting for them as the clock hit 45 seconds. As they all piled into the car, Blair lying across Eggsy’s and Andrew’s legs, Arthur yelled for them to hold on to her tight as he floored it to the front of the mansion, and to the gate that had stranded party-goers still walking through. They had no idea how massive the explosion was going to be, so Arthur kept his foot on the gas pedal until the clock struck zero. Eggsy watched from the review mirror as a cloud of smoke and flames engulfed the house. He was about to ask Andrew and James if all of the captives had been rescued when he was cut off by a voice he hadn’t heard in a few days.

            “Arthur? Are they alright? Are Blair, Eggsy, and Andrew okay?” Roxy’s voice came out through the car, clearly on the brink of a meltdown.

            “Rox, we’ve got them all.”


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just wanted to start this new chapter off with a massive thank you. Really, the response I have gotten as of late has been absolutely unbelievable and all of your comments and kudos are what keep me from wanting to bang my head into a wall whenever I lack motivation or experience writer's block. So thank you for saving me.

When Arthur called her the night before, during the middle of the mission, to tell her that things were looking grim, Roxy had gone into full on panic mode. She had been in the hospital, finally outside of the critical care wing since he father was showing real signs of recovery, but that joyous celebration she was having with her family was shattered when she received “a call from work.” In front of her parents, she held herself together, and simply excused herself from the room to take the rest of the call. But as Arthur continued to talk her through Eggsy’s every move to get to Blair, she felt like her world was crashing down. Blair, someone whom she had grown incredibly close to over the past few months and the only real friend she had left from her childhood, had been taken hostage and was about to be blown up. And then to make matters worse, Eggsy had to be the hero, and yes, Roxy knew exactly why he did what he did and she couldn’t blame him for that, but now there was a possibility of losing her closest companion too. That was too much to bare. So for the remainder of the mission, she hid in a utilities closest, waiting for word from Arthur, and when she received it, all she got about Eggsy’s condition were his hands. _Those can easily be mended. He’s fine. He’ll be up and moving in a few hours. It could have been so much worse._ Blair, was a different story, but Arthur assured Roxy that she was going to be okay.

So even though she knew her friends were safe and were supposed to make full recoveries, from the moment that she had gotten off the plane, Roxy spared no second glance at anything or anyone as she ran through the halls of US HQ, trying to find the medical branch. Arthur had called her again an hour before her plane landed, warning her that both Eggsy and Blair were still under extensive testing and monitoring and that is was likely that she would not be able to visit either of her friends for a few more hours.

“Even Eggsy? I thought it you were just worried about his hands? Those shouldn’t take too long to fix with our technology...”

“It is mainly his hands. But the nurses put him on a really intensive pain killer, and are watching that closely. I also want a psych evaluations done on him and Blair when they pass physical clearance, so that’ll be happening soon. Just come find me when you get here.” Roxy decided that Arthur would understand her not following that order, and she expected him to know that she wasn’t going to do that. So it was no surprise at all when Roxy had finally found Eggsy’s and Blair’s rooms that Arthur was standing outside, waiting for her. She tried pushing past him, but he grabbed her by the shoulders and stood her in front of him.

“Roxy, I told you they were still being monitored. No one is allowed in, not even myself. Let’s go get a cuppa, and then we’ll come right back here and wait for them to be cleared, okay?” Roxy allowed herself to be pulled away, because there really was no way she was getting into either of their rooms since they were filled with nurses still, and because a cup of tea did sound really nice after everything.

“Where are the others?” She asked as they rounded the corner and entered a similarly styled cafeteria as the set up back in the UK. The halls were empty, the rooms they passed – quiet.

“James, Andrew, and Austin are all sleeping. While they weren’t as injured as Blair, they each have significant bruising from the impact of the bullets, and they’ve earned a bit of rest, I think.”

“Did they all make it through to the next round? Is there a next round?” Those were the more important questions: were they going to have to go through this again? Arthur thought about it for a minute as he retrieved the cups of hot water from the microwave, and Roxy could clearly see his distress at there not being a kettle. As she waited, Roxy picked a tea bag from the small selection and watched as the color of the water started to swirl with the light brown color of her mint tea bag.

“Well, I wanted you to have a say on the UK recruits’ side of things. This mission was less clear cut that the other, right? There wasn’t a deadline for them to complete a task and we can’t compare the recruits across the group on the same skills, because they were all given different directions. I want to talk it over with Eggsy when he wakes up as well. And then things get a bit complicated when it comes to the US recruits. Jason is very torn as to what to do.” Roxy waited for him to continue, and when he didn’t, she asked why his decision was more complicated than theirs. “Oh, I haven’t told you everything, have I? I guess I was a little preoccupied. Well, come on, Eggsy’s going to want to throw in his commentary as well.”

Roxy didn’t bother asking anything else. Arthur would tell her when he told her, and she knew better than to try and get something from him before he was ready to give. Arthur led the pair back down to Eggsy’s and Blair’s rooms, and noticed that Eggsy’s door was open. Peaking her head inside, Roxy let a gasp. Arthur pushed her into the room so he could see what was wrong, and just sighed when he saw that Eggsy’s bed was empty.

“I swear that boy is trying to kill me.” Roxy looked mortified, clearly not over all of the emotions from the day before, and nearly slapped his arm in anger.

“Arthur! What if he freaked out like the last time he was put under?” Goosebumps came up just at the thought of Eggsy having an episode when they finally got back to HQ after V-Day when he was put under to help him heal more quickly. “He could be anywhere,” she said, as she pictured him hiding in his bathroom, worrying that he had been put under because Dean had done something awful again. She imagined that she’d have the same reaction after growing up the way Eggsy did.

“Roxy, calm down,” Arthur said as he pushed on her lower back and led her back out of the room. “I know where he is.” They walked a few steps to the next room over, and took turns shoving their faces into the little window in the door, and sure enough, there he was. Quietly pushing the door open, Eggsy jumped back in his chair, thinking that it was a nurse that was going to force him back into his room, but Roxy just smiled at the boy. When her eyes did leave him, landing on Blair, she nearly started to cry. Roxy’s lip quivered at seeing her broken recruit, but if there was anyone she needed to be strong for right now, it was Blair. Eggsy stood up, offering Roxy his chair, and she gladly accepted it, hugging him fiercely before sitting down.

“If you two ever put me through that kind of stress again, I will personally kill you if the mission doesn’t, got it?”

“Yes ma’am,” they both mumbled. Blair’s left arm was in a sling, the bone having been reconstructed in a surgery earlier in the morning. There were bandages everywhere on her skin, covering up cuts that no one knew she had obtained during her fighting. IVs stuck out too, pumping her with pain medication and blood infusions. Blair was smiling though, and whether that was due to finally seeing her mentor, Eggsy giving her puppy dog eyes, or the drugs, no one knew, but no one really cared, because everyone was going to be okay.

“Rox, how’s your dad?” Blair’s voice was rough with exhaustion, but her eyes were attentive.

“He’s – he’s doing better. Finally out of critical care,” Roxy smiled. “What about you? You’re the one that had to deal with being locked in a basement with a bomb.”

“Good. These drugs, whatever they are, are so much better than what I got when Austin broke my nose. Arthur, we should get these back home.” Arthur let out a mix of a laugh and a sigh, and the room tensed at the sound of Austin’s name. Roxy looked between the three of them, and realized she should have known that this had something to do with him.

“Alright, is somebody going to fill me in now?” Roxy asked impatiently, and so the story began. The perfect couple, the business men, and a trained killer all walk into a party... It sounded like the start of some lame joke, and Roxy wished it was, especially as they got deeper into the events of the night before. What started out as a well-executed rescue mission dissolved into a series of missteps and fuckups, the worst of which came from the golden boy, Austin.

“...and as Blair was fightin’ off these two guards, he disappeared. Suddenly the backup that was called down was surroundin’ her, and Austin was nowhere in sight.” Eggsy had explained, baffled by Austin’s reaction to the situation. “You _never_ leave a partner in that position. Isn’t that what we’ve been tellin ‘em from the very beginnin’? How important teamwork is? Fuckin’ hate that dickhead,” he huffed, folding his arms across his chest.

“His glasses showed that he had retreated and escaped down another tunnel. We basically stopped monitoring him for a while as we were trying to figure out where Blair was being taken,” Arthur continued. “You should have seen his reaction when he got back to the limo. He knew where I stood on the situation since we had already chatted as he hide in the garden, but it was almost like he expected Jason to applaud him. But despite the fact that one doesn’t just do that in the first place and Jason abides by the same fundamental principles as the rest of us, he’s grown a soft spot for Blair since she took Austin down during the fights, so that didn’t pan out well.”

“Why would he have left her in the first place, though?” Roxy thought aloud. “It’s like Eggsy said, we’ve been drilling teamwork into their heads since day one. You would have thought that he would have known that this would severely hurt his chances at becoming one of us right? He has to go home? How can anyone trust him now?”

“Technically, the decision is Jason’s, but we’ll talk about that later.” Arthur shifted his eyes to Blair, who had seemingly lost interest in the conversation, and signaled that the talk of whether or not Austin would be kicked out needed to stop in front of her. She was, after all, still a recruit too. Trying to pull Blair back in, Arthur mused, “It is interesting though. Why he left, I mean. Blair, didn’t something happen in the library? When your glasses ended up on the floor?” Roxy flicked her eyes back to her candidate, who now looked like she wished they would all leave her to rest.

“Wait, you never mentioned that when you were talking about them getting into the secret passage?” Arthur shrugged, indicating that he had “forgotten” and was leaving it to a more opportune time.

“It was nothing,” Blair whispered. Eggsy who was standing behind the chair he had offered Roxy, scoffed.

“Blair, you don’t have to protect him. We know somethin’ happened.”

“You’re not going to like it,” she said to Eggsy. Or maybe to the room, Roxy wasn’t sure. The three Kingsman waited, giving Blair a moment to gather her confidence. “He tried... he tried to get me to ‘take our physical relationship to the next level’ since we were supposed to be married. He said he thought we’d be more believable. He uh – he threw our glasses to the other side of the room so you guys wouldn’t know what was going on, and held me up against the bookcase, but he was tipsy so I was able to get away easier this time,” she faltered then, and Roxy knew that she said something she didn’t mean to say. “He was mad at me, I know that’s why he left!” She offered quickly, trying to cover up her mistake.

“What do you mean ‘this time’? Blair, has this happened before?” Arthur asked her, gently. Blair’s eyes flashed around the room, and landed on Eggsy pacing the small space in front of her bed.

“Once,” she let out, her head dropping. Roxy reached over to squeeze her hand, letting her know that it was okay to continue. “It was the day before yesterday. In the training center. We were both working out, ignoring each other for the most part, but then he came over and offered to help me with that stupid flip I’ve been struggling with,” Roxy nodded her head, picturing the exact one she was talking about. “He told me I could trust him – that he wouldn’t let me fall. So I let him help. And then he told me how good he thought we could be together. That it was basically expected of us to get together since we were at the top of the class, and besides Roxy, I was the only girl, so it had to happen. He cornered me then too, but I got away that time as well and hid in the library until Andrew eventually found me, bringing me to the door for the meeting.”

The room was quiet then. Arthur stared at the wall directly behind Blair’s head, Roxy stared at Blair’s sling, and Eggsy had stopped pacing, but faced away from the trio, his head down towards the floor. Blair, while visibly upset, didn’t cry, and Roxy had thought that to Blair, this was just another screwed up event of her past.

“Will someone please say something?” Blair broke the silence, clearly uncomfortable. It was Eggsy that followed.

“Arthur, let me beat the shit out of ‘im, please,” he practically begged, placing a hand on the superior’s shoulder. “He can’t fuckin’ get away with all of this!” His voice was raised, and Blair visibly shrunk back into her bed. The creaking of the old beams holding her bed up caused Eggsy to glance over at her, his face softening when he realized he was scaring her. Lowering his voice to a normal level, he continued, but his language still conveyed how angry he was. “He fuckin’ harassed her, Arthur, and then he left her cuz he’s a fuckin’ pissed off and scorned dick! He needed to prove that he still had control over her,” he alleged, pointing over at Blair, “so let me explain to him just how little control he really has in this situation.” Arthur sighed, something he had been doing a lot since Roxy had gotten back, and glanced between Blair and Eggsy.

“Eggsy, you know I can’t just give you permission to beat up Austin, even though I wouldn’t mind seeing it done. But that’s not how we handle sexual harassment here, and we will find a way to deal with this professionally.” Turning his attention to the recruit in the bed, he apologized. “Blair, I am sorry that you were paired up with him for this mission. Had I know, I would never have put you two together. It’s just you two made the most sense in terms of muscle.”

“Arthur, it’s not your fault. If he wasn’t a complete arsehole, I really think he’d make a good partner, but alas...” she trailed off as there was a knock at the door. Eggsy walked over and was engulfed in a hug as soon as the person on the other side was able to get into the room. Roxy laughed at Eggsy’s stunned expression as Andrew leaned back from him, and immediately stood up to hug Eggsy’s candidate.

“It’s good to see ya, Rox. Things alright with your dad?” Roxy nodded her head into his shoulder and pulled away a second later. _How did I get so lucky?_ Roxy thought as she took in the people standing before her. After shaking Arthur’s hand, Andrew walked over to Blair and kissed her forehead. Roxy glanced over to see how Eggsy would react, but he just smiled at the two, finally realizing that Andrew was in fact, like a brother to Blair. Eggsy would never admit to anyone that he got jealous when any of the boys acted affectionately towards Blair, but Roxy could see it, and desperately wanted him to just go for it so she didn’t have to deal with his pissy moods after seeing her with others.

“I swear,’m gonna beat his head in,” Andrew said, examining Blair’s sling. Eggsy turned pointedly to Arthur with an “I’m not the only one” expression, but Arthur wasn’t having it.

“Let’s leave these two to catch up,” Arthur said, ignoring Eggsy as he promised Arthur that he’ll triple the bet money he owes him if he’d just turn his head while Eggsy taught Austin a lesson. While he was clearly trying to lighten the mood by bringing up the bet (which she was hoping they’d just all forget about), Roxy knew Eggsy was 100% serious and would do anything to use Austin as his punching bag. “Come on, we’ve got to meet with Jason anyways and discuss what last night means in terms of the testing.”


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait everyone! As always, thank you for all of your kind words - it means the world! Also I tend to post status updates for the story on my tumblr, kingsman-recruits.tumblr.com, so if any of you are ever wondering when the next chapter will be posted, check there. Also, I am always taking requests, so if you have something you'd like me to try to write, please feel free to message me there!

            “I can’t believe you went back into that stupid mansion with Eggsy. I was begging Arthur to come in and get the two of you out.”

            “Blair, why are we still talkin’ about this? You can’t be upset about it. We are all here, all fine. Right?” Blair reluctantly nodded her head. “I don’t know why you would have thought I wouldn’t have gone in to get you. You made me promise before we left that no matter what, we’d always be friends. I don’t think we’d be friends if you were dead. It’s just not possible. I kept my promise, yeah? So let off it.” Andrew had been in her room for the last half an hour, and they had been discussing how his side of things went, but the conversation turned sour when Blair said she was wishing that he wouldn’t have come to get her. _What if none of us made it out, Andrew? What if you died for me? If there is an afterlife, I don’t know how I would have dealt with that._ But Andrew didn’t see it that way, couldn’t see it that way. And while she was grateful, Blair never wanted him to have to suffer because of her.

            “Andrew, look, I’m sorry, alright? It’s just that if all three of us were gone because I got thrown into a basement with a bomb, I just, I don’t even want to think about it. And it was a possibility!”

            “Blair, I know it was. I knew the risks when I went in there, so did Eggsy. But we did it anyways. And you didn’t get yourself thrown into a basement with a bomb. Austin did that to you. You’ve got to stop blamin’ yourself for this and accept that Eggsy and I can both make our own choices, and you aren’t responsible for those either. It’s different for both of us, but neither one of us would have been able to deal without you being here.”

            “Okay. Okay, Andrew. I’m done, I’ll let off it, yeah? Just... thank you. Really, I’ll never be able to repay you.” Andrew mumbled something along the lines of “just hug me, I know that’s what you want,” and Blair giggled, leaning in with her right shoulder to get in close to him. “One more thing, and then I promise I’m done,” she said, whispering into his shoulder. “One of these days, I will do the exact same thing for you, and then you’ll understand where I’m coming from.” Andrew pulled back from her, giving her a pointed glare, and Blair held up her hand in defense, mouthing the word “done.”

            They sat in silence then – happy to be alive and happy to be with each other, but Blair’s mind was never one that shut off easily. _He said that neither of them would be able to deal without me, but he said it was different for both of them. What the fuck does that mean? I mean, both of them would be fine eventually? And Andrew will certainly get into Kingsman, so they can deal with it together. Why would they deal with it differently?_ Maybe it was the drugs, but Blair simply couldn’t wrap her head around that sentence.

            “What’s wrong?” Andrew asked, head still leaned up against the wall, but eyes aimed at Blair.

            “Huh? Oh, nothing.”

            “No, you’ve got that look.”

            “I certainly do not have a look,” Blair scoffed.

            “Yes, ya fuckin’ do. It’s the look you get whenever you’re tryin’ to solve a puzzle.” Blair raised her eyes at him, and he just shrugged. “I’m observant, is all.”

            “You said earlier that if you lost me, it’d be different for you and for Eggsy...”

            “That’s what you’re goin’ on about up there?” He laughed. “Blair, everybody knows he’s got a thing for you. He’d go mad.” Blair had been hoping that that was what he was going to say, but she couldn’t very well believe it, right? Sure they had flirted a bit, _but he’s that way with most people probably._ Now that she thought about it, the only other girl she had ever seen him with was Roxy, and they had a very special bond, but it wasn’t comparable to her and Eggsy. It was more like her and Andrew. _You need to see what he’s like with other girls, but how the fuck are you gonna do that?_ “I’d be willin’ to bet that’s why Austin’s been such a tool as of late,” he went on, referring to Blair’s recounting of Austin’s actions leading up to him leaving her. “He’s jealous. Knows that you’ve got a thing for Eggsy too. Sees it as a competition.”

            “I do not! I have no idea what you’re talking about, Andrew.” He just watched her, clearly amused as she began to take it all back. “So maybe I do? So what?  It’s not like anything is going to happen. We are both professionals here.”

* * *

             “The professional and right thing to do here is to let him go. He hasn’t showed any real Kingsman qualities lately, and we have a confession from Blair on what happened between the two of them in the library.” The argument had been going on for nearly the entire time they had been in command with Cliff, and it was the same points over and over again. Cliff kept talking about how Austin was one of the most skilled recruits American HQ has seen in a long time, and Arthur kept coming back with the fact that he wasn’t trustworthy and that he harasses women.

            “Arthur, we don’t even know that what Blair is telling us is the truth! We have no video evidence of the first account from the training center and then it’s just her word against his! And we haven’t even heard his!” Eggsy could feel Roxy lean into him, trying to get him to calm down and not react, even though he could tell by a quick glance down at her face that she was just as livid as he was.

            “Oi! Why the fuck would Blair lie about that? It’s not like she needs a boost among the rest of the recruits! Hell, she and Austin ain’t even really competin’ for the same spot!”

            “Jason, Eggsy does have a point. Why would Blair lie about it? If you want to talk to him, fine, but even without his confession and completely disregarding what Blair said for the time being, he is not Kingsman material. One of these days, you are going to send him out on a mission with a partner and he is going to leave them behind so he can save his own skin. You will lose agents because of him.” Cliff had begun to deflate, like deep down he knew that he couldn’t accept his proposal, and Eggsy knew it was just as big of a blow to his ego as it would be to Austin’s.

            “But then what about James? He’s not worth it either. He clearly didn’t want to be there,” Cliff said, pointing to the monitors that showed his footage. “He basically hid from the action until Andrew was there to take over most of the work. I don’t want that in an agent.” Cliff threw himself down into the chair and leaned his head back. Eggsy didn’t know much about the inner-workings of US HQ, but he did know that if Cliff turned them both down, he’d have to go through this process all over again. And then it would take nearly a year just to find one replacement. It takes up time, energy, and resources, but he didn’t have any other viable options at this point.

            “Wait, what about Harry?” Three tired faces turned to look at him, but only Roxy knew where he was going.

            “Yeah, what about Harry? He’s the next best candidate after Andrew and Blair.” Arthur nodded his head in agreeance, whether to the fact presented or the idea itself, Eggsy wasn’t sure, but he went with it anyways.

            “Bring Harry over to US HQ. So what if he isn’t American? He’s a good candidate. We’d take him if we were taking more people, right Arthur?” Another nod, “so why don’t you bring him over?”

            “Are you honestly suggesting that I bring a Brit over to my division?” Cliff scoffed, as he stood up and approached Eggsy. “He’ll be ridiculed, he won’t be accepted. He isn’t one of us.”

            “He’s Kingsman material, ain’t he? Then he is one of us! Who fuckin’ cares if he’s got an accent? He’d be willin’ to learn and adapt, and so should you!” That got Cliff riled up, and Eggsy was reminded of the first day they had met. Things had been calmer between them since then, but it was evident that Cliff was still behind in the times and stood for everything UK HQ had been trying to change.

            “Sir, with all due respect, Eggsy’s right,” Roxy butt in. “Harry is a great candidate who would be able to talk his way through any situation given to him. The fact that the mark got away last night did not reflect poorly on Harry’s skills but rather James drawing attention to himself. And I don’t think you are giving your agents very much credit. After V-Day, especially, we have to work together. Wasn’t that why you brought the recruits to the UK? Bringing in someone from that side of the world could be incredibly useful. But only if you allow it.” _Rox has always been much better at calming situations down than I have._

            “Jason, I think Lancelot and Galahad have made some very good suggestions, but we will let you think it over for a little bit. I will remind you though that we are going to release the recruits by the end of today, so do what you have to do.”

            “Fuck it, I don’t need time to think this over. Get them down here.” Roxy quickly pushed Eggsy out the door to avoid any further blowups from Cliff, and told him that she’d find Austin, Harry, and James, knowing that he should not currently be alone with Austin. Part of him was grateful that he had the easy and pleasant task of retrieving Blair and Andrew, but at the same time, this could have been his perfect opportunity to take his anger out on Austin away from Arthur’s watchful gaze.

            He ran into a nurse as he approached Blair’s room, and told her that they have all been summoned to command. She nodded knowingly, and asked him to wait while she disappeared around a corner. A second later, she was back with a wheelchair and said that Blair should be wheeled down as she was likely to be very weak still, not to mention that the drugs could make her quite dizzy. He thanked her, taking the handles over, and pushed the chair to her door. It was then that he got the first real look at his hands – red, scarred, and sore, but healing nonetheless. Opening the door by pushing down on the handle with his elbow and then pushing the door in with his butt, he backed the wheelchair into Blair’s room where she and Andrew had been laughing about something. Blair immediately frowned when she saw the wheelchair, but she knew better than to complain.

            “Sorry to interrupt, but we all been asked to go to command.” Andrew stood up, hand behind his head, searching Eggsy for some indication as to what they were about to get themselves into. Eggsy held up his hands, heading shaking, “Sorry, can’t tell you. Alright, Blair, time to get you out of that bed. Andrew, will you go around to the other side and push her IVs alongside the chair?” Andrew did as he was asked, sliding past Eggsy, allowing him to reach for Blair in her bed. “Okay, I’m gonna lift you on the count of three, okay?” He asked, digging his hands under her legs and behind her back, “one, two, three.” Blair groaned at the movement, but Eggsy could feel her body relax from the pain when she came into contact with his chest. _Keep yourself together, Eggsy_. Letting out his own soft sigh, he walked her over to where Andrew was standing, IVs next to him, as he steadied the chair for her.

            Eggsy heard Blair whisper a breathy “thanks” as he set her down and began to push her out of the room, Andrew in tow. The three of them made their way down the halls, and Eggsy could tell by the quiet that they both knew what was coming and that they were nervous. Desperately wanting to reassure them, he opened his mouth, only to close it again. _You can’t tell them anything. Remember, you aren’t just their friend, you are their superior (sort of), and you can’t bend the rules because you like them._

            Entering command, they were the last ones there. Both Harry and James looked over to where Blair had been wheeled, concern gracing their features, but Austin kept his eyes on Arthur and Cliff at the front of the room. Once Andrew and Blair were situated with Blair’s medical equipment, Eggsy joined Roxy who was standing slightly away from the center of the room, observing rather than participating. She caught his eye, looked over to Austin, and then rolled her own. Eggsy raised his eyebrows in acknowledgement, and then watched as Roxy shifted her gaze to Blair. He followed her, and saw that Blair was doing her best to sit up as straight as possible, trying to look like it was only a minor injury that she was dealing with, but he also noticed her hand squeeze the pain pump resting in her lap. Both Kingsman were dragged out of their thoughts when Cliff cleared his voice.

            “After last night’s mission and subsequent events, it is time for some of you to pack up your bags,” _he said some! Didn’t give a number! What if he decides to keep Harry?_ “James, it was evident that while you handled yourself well during your time in the ballroom, you did not want to be involved in the action. Instead of quickly looking for a way to get to the prisoners, you leisurely walked your way through bedrooms and offices. That is unacceptable, especially after you were told that we were on a time crunch. From those reasons, we ask that you pack your bags and go home.” James hung his head, but Eggsy honestly thought it was more for show than anything else. He had been giving off a vibe for a while now that this was too much for him to handle. The room was still as James made his leave, and Eggsy could see Austin grin in triumph at being the last remaining American candidate. _He thinks he got it._

            “Austin,” Cliff began, looking at the smirking recruit openly, “Austin, while you have some of the best combat skills US HQ has seen, I am asking that you pack your bags as well.” Austin’s mouth snapped shut, and all eyes, including Blair’s, turned to stare at him with shock covering their features.

            “Sir, you can’t be serious?” Austin asked, dumbfounded, and Eggsy tried to restrain the grin that was forcing its way onto his face. Arthur glanced between the two, debating on whether or not he should step in and handle it, but Cliff got to a response before he could open his mouth.

            “Yes, Austin. I am completely serious. You showed last night that you were willing to lose one of your teammates just to save yourself, allowing her to be kidnapped and nearly blowing up her and her rescue team because you didn’t want to fight your way out of a messy situation. You think that any of us would want you to be on future missions where you could put other agents in jeopardy? I tried to think of reasons why you should stay, I really did, but when confronted with evidence of what happened in the library last night, it got a lot harder.” Eggsy snuck a look over to Blair then and watched as her head fell slightly. Andrew had been watching her too, and put his hand on her shoulder like Eggsy was wishing he could do. _You don’t need to protect him anymore._ “...absolutely nothing could top why I should send you home. You’re dismissed.” Austin looked as if he was ready to explode and began strutting his way to where Cliff stood. Arthur stepped out in front of him though, arms falling from their folded position across his chest, daring Austin to come closer.

            “Don’t make this any worse than it needs to be, Austin. Go home.” Austin seemed to think better of what he was about to do, but instead of leaving, he turned to Blair. Eggsy and Roxy immediately stepped in front of her as Austin walked closer.

            “Bruv, you need to step back now,” Eggsy said, meeting Austin in the middle of the room, chests nearly touching. Austin had a few inches on him, but Eggsy puffed out his chest even more, ready for a fight anyways. Taking his eyes off Eggsy, Austin used his height to find Blair, now hidden behind Roxy and Andrew.

            “You’re a fucking bitch, Blair, and you deserved to die in there!” Eggsy shoved him back, ready to go at it when Arthur yanked Austin by his shirt to escorted him to the door.

            “That is enough. You can either leave now and pack your bags or I’ll have Eggsy and Jason drag you out of here and you’ll forgo your possessions. Do I make myself clear?”

            “Fuck you,” Austin sneered, but he left the room anyways. Arthur went back to stand in front of the three remaining recruits, and before letting Cliff continue, asked Blair if she was okay.

            “’M – I’m fine, Arthur,” she stammered.

            “Very well, then. Harry, you proved your worth last night with commanding the mark’s attention, and for that, you shall be rewarded. US HQ,” he continued, looking over to Eggsy, “would greatly benefit from you joining our company. Harry, welcome to Kingsman.” Blair and Andrew immediately began cheering for their friend as Harry stepped up to shake the four Kingsmans’ hands. He was clearly in shock, stuttering his thanks as he resumed his place in line. Once the congratulations faded, Arthur stepped forward to begin addressing Blair and Andrew.

            “From the very beginning, we have decided to keep it a secret as to how many of you would assume positions at UK HQ, wanting to make sure that none of you got too comfortable in your rankings when you found out that we would be accepting two incomers to the UK branch of Kingsman. Blair, Andrew, the two of you have performed consistently throughout the testing process and have proved to be more than we could have asked for. You both have willingly placed yourself into very dangerous positions and have fought with every fiber of your being since the very beginning, despite what you have both come up against. It is with great pleasure that I welcome the two of you to Kingsman.”

            Both Andrew and Blair just stared at each other, and it wasn’t until Roxy had come over to hug her recruit that either one of them had fully realized what was happening. Blair was close to tears as she hugged Roxy and Andrew was jumping with joy as he crushed Harry and Eggsy in hugs. Eggsy didn’t have the chance to congratulate Blair before Roxy wheeled her up to first Cliff and then Arthur.

            “Welcome to Kingsman, Kay,” he said, shaking her hand firmly. “And to you, Lucan,” he continued as Andrew took his place behind Blair. “Welcome.” Eggsy was once again cut off in his congratulations to Blair as Arthur tapped him on the shoulder. “Why don’t you go make sure that Austin finds the exit without getting himself into any more trouble?”

            “Arthur? Are you serious?” Eggsy asked, catching the slight gleam in Arthur’s eyes.

            “I’m afraid so. You owe me, Eggsy!” Quickly running up to Blair, he kissed her on the forehead and whispered “I’ll be right back,” before grabbing Andrew by the wrist.

            “Bruv, where we going?” He shouted as they reached the door.

            “Didn’t you say on the first night that you wanted to do something mental?”


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Just wanted to remind you guys that you can find me at kingsman-recruits.tumblr.com if you have any suggestions for future chapters or you just want to stop over and say hi. Oh, or if you have any ideas for future stories or drabbles - I'm always willing to hear what you guys have to say! Hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

            Blair thought the flight home was going to be relaxing, but unless one could call the constant questioning of psychologists and the poking and prodding of the inflight nurses relaxing, she was completely wrong. Between the nurses fluttering between her and the boys, who had assured her that their knuckles weren’t _that_ bruised and the cuts on their lips from Austin’s ring weren’t _that_ deep, she couldn’t get a moment to herself. It started off with an hour long psych evaluation that Arthur had wanted her and Eggsy to go through, then moved on to a visual presentation of all of the stretches and exercises she was going to have to do religiously over the next week to get her arm back in order before Arthur would allow her out into the field ( _starting right now apparently,_ she thought, as the nurse took her sling off and carefully allowed her arm to fall to her side), and finally a meeting with the man himself, who took the time on the plane to lay out every single piece of information she might ever need.

            “...and I’ll get you the keys to your loft and car when we get back, but I want you staying at HQ until your arm fully heals, and no driving until then as well. You’ll also be receiving a new cell phone – it’s for Kingsman uses only – with all of your important numbers on it, like all of the agents and US embassies around the world and the numbers for all of the Kingsman branches, and you’ll have another couple of fittings to attend to while you’re resting at HQ. I’ve been working on new gadgets for you and Roxy, so we’ll have you test those out when you’re ready.” His eyes focused on his clipboard, crossing things off of his checklist, and just as Blair let out a yawn, he looked up and smiled at her. “Blair, one last thing, and then I’ll let you sleep.” He put down his clipboard then and took off his glasses before continuing, “Your parents would be so proud of you. They’d probably be absolutely terrified at the thought of you following in their footsteps, but thrilled nonetheless. Really, Jonathan would be over the moon. Your mother too.”

            Blair hadn’t even had a moment to think about how her parents would have felt about her becoming a Kingsman, but she thought that they would have liked her to follow in their footsteps. They would never have pushed this on her, but her mother always used to remind her that imitation was the sincerest form of flattery. _This isn’t just for me anymore, it’s for them._ Arthur stood up, patted her shoulder, and left to check in with the nurses. From where he had her sat at the front of the plane, she took a moment to take in everything. Roxy was sleeping in the last row, head rested against a pillow propped up on the window. Andrew had convinced Arthur to let him borrow one of his extra clipboards to watch a movie, and was grossly invested in whatever was playing. Eggsy was still being hounded by a nurse who was stitching up a cut that ran through his eyebrow. Blair had heard him earlier, trying to convince the nurse that it really wasn’t anything to worry about (“you should see the other guy,”), but Arthur ordered him to sit for the nurse so he could be patched up.

            Blair kept her eyes on his fidgeting form as she stood and made her way to the middle of the plane. _They are both idiots. Austin not getting in was more than enough._ A bout of nausea hit then, reminding her that she still had some significant drugs running through her system, and she had to reach out to the seats on either side just to balance herself. The pain from moving her arm that quickly added to her situation, and before she knew it, there was a nurse at her side to help her to the window seat. Rhere was also the sound of someone getting scolded in the background.

            “Stop moving, Mr. Unwin. Unless you want this needle in your eye?” There was a muffled groan and the nurse who was helping Blair rolled her eyes before she left her. Blair hadn’t realized how late it was until she tried to distract herself from the pain by looking out her window, seeing the skies painted dark blues and blacks as they moved from east to west. _We’re chasing the sun. Maybe if I stay up for a little bit longer, I’ll get to see it rise as we get closer to home._ But sleep was coming quickly, and as pretty as the sky looked, it wasn’t enough to keep her eyes open. She drifted, only the sounds of the plane and its passengers noticeable. Roxy’s voice sounded sleepy and far away, but Blair could just barely make out her telling Eggsy to sit somewhere else, and then the sound of rushing air as someone took the spot next to her. Peeking out under her eyelashes, she caught Eggsy watching her, and when he noticed that her eyes were watching him, he began to blush.

            “Sorry,” he whispered, “I didn’t mean to wake you.” Blair pushed herself up in the chair, and turned to take in his injuries. The skin above his eye was red due to the stitches, but the cut itself looked better – cleaner. His lip luckily hadn’t required stitches, but was bleeding slightly. Eggsy felt it at the same time she had seen it, and he took his lip between his teeth to lick the blood away. She moved in closer to him, and for a second, she thought she might get the courage to kiss him. The fear of it was too much in the end, though she allowed herself to lift her hand to brush the hair away from his stitched eyebrow, craving some sort of physical contact. Eggsy closed his eyes and leaned into her touch.

            “You’re both idiots,” she whispered affectionately, drawing her hand away, but snuggling into his side instead, carefully maneuvering herself so she could rest her left arm in her lap. Eggsy instinctively wrapped his arm around her, pulling her even closer. His grip let up as she shifted in her seat, trying to get comfortable, but as she rested her head on his shoulder and finally stilled, the grip resumed. They sat like that in a relaxed silence, but Blair was a goner as soon as Eggsy started to draw circles on her arm with his thumb.

            Blair woke up a few hours later to find herself in a completely new position: her head was propped up on a pillow against the window, just as she had seen Roxy earlier that night, and there was another pillow in her lap. Beside her, Eggsy was laying on his side, body tucked into a ball – feet sticking out the aisle though, because there was no way he was capable of making himself any shorter than he already was – with his head resting on the pillow in Blair’s lap. She marveled at the fact that he was somehow actually sleeping like that before she was blinded by a beam of light reflecting off the plane’s wings. She might have missed the sun rise, but this, what she was experiencing right now, was so much better.

            Moving her hand from where it had been resting on Eggsy’s arm, she began to lightly comb her fingers through his hair. _This... this right here, is all of the relaxation I could have hoped for when leaving the states._ Eggsy stirred in his sleep, causing Blair’s hand to still, afraid that she had woken him, but a moment later, he was back to softly snoring and her hand resumed its’ actions.

            From her seat, the only person she could see was Arthur, who was trying desperately not to fall asleep at his desk. Luckily _or maybe it was unluckily_ , an alert popped up on his tablet, so he now had something that would keep him preoccupied. Blair watched him for a few more moments as he scanned through footage of a mission she didn’t recognize as one of their own. _Must be one of the other agents._ Suddenly, Arthur started quietly talking to someone, congratulating them on a job well done.

            “...no, I’m watching the footage right now. No, the move was good. Yeah, uh-huh. Percival, it was fine,” Arthur sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Why am I whispering? I’m on a plane filled with sleeping agents. Yeah - yeah, we are on the way back to HQ, should be there shortly. Two new agents. I sent you their files back when we all started this – Roxy and Eggsy’s candidates. Alright, you’ll meet them when you get in.”

            Arthur took off his glasses at the end of the call and closed his monitors. He took a minute to rest his head in his hands before someone walked up to him and whispered something in his ear. He thanked her as she left him, and then glanced around the cabin. When he caught Blair’s eyes, he smiled weakly before standing up and walking over to her.

            “Blair, we are beginning our descent to the mansion. Will you wake him up?” He asked, pointing to Eggsy and trying to contain the exhausted yet knowing smile. “Can’t have him laying like that as we land. I’ll get Roxy and Andrew up.” Arthur left the two before she could even say “yes sir.” Blair didn’t want to startle Eggsy awake in case he ended up flinging himself off the seat, so she began by brushing her fingers lightly over his forehead and cheek, before moving her hand down to his arm. Her fingers drew circles and lines across his skin, and while he stirred a bit, it wasn’t enough for him to fully wake, so she leaned down and whispered his name into his ear.

            “Eggsy... Eggsy... it’s time to wake up. C’mon, Eggsy.” He rolled over onto his back then, eyes still closed, but his breathing picked up. “Good morning,” Blair whispered, suddenly very aware of how close they were to each other. Eggsy’s eyes opened then, crinkling around the edges when he gave her a soft smile. “You’ve got to sit up now... we’re about to land.” He nodded his head, and waited for Blair to move her arm before he slowly got up.

            “How is it? Your arm?” He whispered in a groggy voice.

            “Sore, but not as bad as it was. The nurses told me that I have to keep it moving and to try not to favor it too much.” He shook his head and let out a yawn, and smiled when she yawned too.

            “Good morning, everyone. We will be arriving to HQ in a few minutes. All of you are to take some time for yourselves this morning, get cleaned up and get presentable, and then Blair and Andrew will meet the rest of the Kingsman tonight. Eggsy and Roxy, before you two go off to get ready, I need to see you in command. That’s all.”

            As the plane landed, Blair and Andrew walked off together to their dorm. Arthur had informed them that their individual rooms were not ready yet, so for today, they would have to resort back to their old arrangement. Stepping inside, they both paused to look around, realizing that it would be the last time either one of them would have to stay in there.

            “How weird is this? We were here just a few days ago as candidates, and now we’re agents? Absolutely mental,” Andrew let out, shrugging off his shirt to get into the shower. “And since there’s only two of us, we can use all of the hot water without Austin complainin’! God, this is fantastic.” Blair smiled to herself as she heard Andrew’s shower turn on. Getting into the shower stall next to him, she closed her curtain and began to undress. She hadn’t expected how hard it would be with her arm though. The surgery had sped up the healing process exponentially and little tasks, like combing her hand through Eggsy’s hair, were easy enough, but trying to get herself out of her shirt was a whole other ball game.

            “Ow! Fuck me,” she groaned as her arm got caught in her sleeve.

            “You alright?” Andrew called over the water.

            “Fine, didn’t think taking a shirt off would be this difficult, but I’ve got it. Fuck, no, okay, pants are harder to get off because of the button. Who would have thought that you actually required muscle to unbutton pants?” Andrew let out a laugh before suggesting that she dress in their jumpers only for the next couple of days. “Do you think Arthur will let me do that? It sounded like for tonight we are supposed to look... well... decent.”

            “I’ll wear one too. We’ll tone it down, they’ll understand, I think. And if not, then I’m sure he’ll just send Eggsy back here to help you get dressed,” he teased.

            “Shut up, Andrew.” She was grateful that no one was there to see her blush, the hot water making the coloring of her cheeks even redder.

            “All ‘m sayin’ is that you two were looking mighty cozy on that plane,” she could practically hear his smirk. “I’ll give it another week before you two are shagging in utilities closets.”

            “Andrew!” she shrieked. “Why would stop it? It’s not like that.”

            “It’s not like that... yet. I’ll bet Roxy’ll take me up on it.” Blair groaned and vowed never to tell Andrew anything ever again. He let off it when she didn’t respond, and she could hear his shower turn off. She decided to stay in a bit longer, enjoying the water after days without being able to shower. She skipped using her left arm like she normally would when washing her hair, the pain from the pants’ button still fresh in her mind. Taking her time, she massaged conditioner into her hair, scrubbed her face, and shaved with one of the nice razors Roxy snuck to her since the personal supplies given to each recruit at the beginning of training was put together by someone who hadn’t realized there was going to be a girl in that session.

            When she finally stepped out of the shower, she noticed that Andrew had thrown one of her jumpers over the top of the stall so it hung down for her. She called out a “thanks” and slipped it on, thankful for the zipper being on the right side. Andrew was laying on his bed, reading a book, when she emerged.

            “Better?” He asked without looking up.

            “Much. When do you think they’ll want us?”

            “Dunno, but someone will probably come get us.” Laying down in the bed next to Andrew’s, all Blair could think about was sleeping.

            “I think since beginning the testing process, 90% of my thoughts have been about when I am going to be able to sleep next,” she yawned.

            “Does that mean the other 10% are about Eggsy?” Andrew asked in a monotone voice. _No, at least 5% is about training._

            “If I wasn’t so tired, I’d throw my pillow at you.” He put his book down at that and shot her a mocking smile before leaning over to turn the light above her bed off. Blair didn’t need him to tell her to take a nap before she was dreaming of being back on the plane with Eggsy.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for waiting! Things have crazy lately and probably will remain that way for a while. Here's the next chapter though, and I just want to say I'm sorry before we get into it. Things never seem to go as well as planned for the Kingsman.

            “Lancelot, Galahad, first thing’s first. Congratulations on your candidates’ inductions into Kingsman. You both, despite the circumstances, trained them and all of the other recruits well. You should both be incredibly proud of Blair and Andrew and of yourselves. The two of you were definitely thrown into this all very quickly, and you have adapted just as any Kingsman should have. But that brings me to my second point. Since we finally have a decent number of agents and some of them are coming off their long term protection details, I can afford to give the two of you breaks,” he finished with a smile.

            “What?” Roxy and Eggsy exclaimed at the same time, causing Arthur’s enthusiasm to fade. A break was the last thing she expected at this point.

            “Arthur, isn’t there a lot to do though? I mean, Blair and Andrew are just getting started. Shouldn’t we both be here?” Roxy asked. Arthur looked perplexed at their reaction, and offended that they weren’t jumping for joy.

            “The two of you have been here for nearly four months nonstop,” he said pointedly. “Eggsy, you haven’t seen your family since immediately after V-Day. I thought that you two would have wanted to go home?”

            “Please, Arthur, it’s not that we don’t want to see our families or that we don’t appreciate the thought, but it feels weird to be vacationing at this point.” _Shit. He thinks we’re ungrateful._

            “Well then I guess that it’s good that you won’t be vacationing right away, Roxanne. Eggsy, you’re taking the first week off. You _need_ to see your family. I know you call them a couple of times a week, but it’s not enough. Besides, you’re too invested right now. I’m concerned about your mental state – you’re psych evaluation wasn’t where it should have been. A week off will do you good.” Roxy looked over to Eggsy, who was clearly torn between relief and anger; anger winning out when he opened his mouth.

            “Arthur, my mental state is fine! And I _thought_ you wanted us to be invested? We’ve been given no other choice, really. Not since we started this.” Eggsy’s brow was furrowed, cheeks red from frustration, and Roxy wanted to take everything back. _We should have just accepted it._

            “You’re passed invested though, Eggsy! I know you like Blair, I get it, but you need to take a step back for a while. I can’t have you losing it in the field if something happens to her!” _Eggsy’s going to hate me._

            “Eggsy, he’s right,” Roxy sighed. Both turned to look at her, shocked at her agreeance with Arthur. “Shit, Eggsy... He’s right. If you’re out there in the field with her and something happens, are you going to be able to finish the mission?” She didn’t let him answer before jumping on herself. “It’s – it’s the same for me. Neither one of us can get too invested in them... or - or in each other,” she finished quietly, her mind flashing back to when she received the call from Arthur saying that they were all in danger. _I thought I was going to die with them._

            “What the fuck, Rox? I thought you guys were alright with this,” Eggsy exclaimed, bringing his hand up to his chest and gripping at the cloth near his heart. “At least, none of you did anythin’ to suggest otherwise.” _He’s right though. Neither one of us ever did anything to stop it. Hell, I told him on the plane that he should go sit with her and not me. And Arthur. Arthur hasn’t done anything except to smile fondly whenever he saw them together. We’ve done nothing to stop it._ Arthur let out an exasperated sigh; clearly this conversation was not what he had wanted.

            “Eggsy, it’s not that we aren’t supportive,” he began, glancing over at Roxy to see if she was alright with him speaking for the both of him. She gave a slight nod, letting him proceed. “It’s just that there’s a fine line in this field when it comes to relationships within the department. If you two end up together, fine. Who am I to stop that, but you have to understand that it’s a liability. Both of you,” he explained, jabbing at the air in front of them, “should this happen, need to understand that the mission cannot be compromised because one of you have been taken, or hurt, or even killed. That has to be dealt with once the mission is over.” Eggsy’s head had fallen, eyes focused on his shoes and hands jammed into his pockets. “Eggsy, I don’t like the fact that that is how we have to deal with things, but that’s just the way it is. Until we can find a better way to deal with it if there is one.

            “It’s the same with Roxy,” he said, turning to her. Eggsy’s head shifted to look at her then. “When I called to tell her what was going on in the mansion, I thought that if I lost the three of you, I’d lose her too.” _Fuck, your trying to hide how terrified you were didn’t work. You should have known better than to try to hide anything from him_. “You are all too invested in each other. Having relationships, whatever type may be, within the Kingsman is a good thing. And you know that, Eggsy. That’s what you’ve been pushing for! But it can morph into something that we can’t control very easily, and I’m afraid that’s happening to all of you. It’s happening to me too,” Arthur confessed. “I still haven’t recovered from losing Harry. And if I lose any of you because you lose each other, you will have all put me in my grave.”

            Arthur was trying to lighten the mood with that, but she didn’t think he was exaggerating. _We’re all too invested._ The room was quiet, and while it was uncomfortable, Roxy knew that Arthur’s words had hit Eggsy enough to knock back his anger. She felt awful for it though. She had wanted this – Eggsy and Blair, and she still does. _They make each other better, in more ways than they make each other worse. But those few horrible ways could end in disaster. How can you ask for one to curve their feelings enough to make sure that they don’t lose it like that?_

            “Eggsy, after Blair and Andrew meet the rest of the Kingsman tonight, I want you to go home. Rest, relax, spend time with your actual family. Think about everything I’ve said, and if you come back and you still want to be with Blair, that’s fine. But know that you can’t let it get in the way of your job here. Roxy, you’ll go on break when Eggsy returns. You’re both dismissed.” Eggsy turned on his foot before “dismissed” had fully left Arthur’s mouth, anger coming back stronger than before, and Roxy ran out the door after him.

            “Eggsy, slow down!” His step hesitated, and she knew he was thinking about continuing without her, but he eventually let her catch up to him, though he wouldn’t look her in the eyes. “Eggsy, I know you’re upset, and I’m sorry. I’m sorry for agreeing with Arthur, and I’m sorry that his words are true. I wish they weren’t, god, do I wish he was wrong-”

            “But he’s not! You think I don’t know that?!” He yelled, fists flying from his pockets to punch the wall. He had already forgotten about his injuries, so when he made contact with the cement blocks, he recoiled, pulling his fist into his chest, swearing under his breath. Roxy felt herself take a small step back, letting him cool down. “I’m sorry – I’m sorry, I shouldn’t yell at you. This isn’t your fault. Rox,” he grabbed her shoulders lightly with the hand that wasn’t throbbing, “listen. I just – I just need some time to myself, yeah? I know he’s right. I do. And that’s what kills me. I just need to think through it, alright? I’ll see you in a bit.” And with that, he gave her a tight-lipped smile and turned the corner, leaving her alone in the hallway.

* * *

             Shutting the door behind him, Eggsy slid to the floor of his small room that he was supposed to be packing up. _You should have known this wasn’t going to end well. Fuck, it hasn’t even started yet._ He never expected any of this when he became a Kingsman. He expected the sense of purpose he felt, but not losing nearly everything else – his family, a chance at being normal, at being happy living a normal life. _You were never going to have a normal life. Not with Dean, not with V-Day still happening, not with everything else that was going on._

            The worst part about all of this was that he had known before Arthur and Roxy had told him that he was “too invested.” He knew, but he couldn’t do anything about it. Every time he’d tell himself to pull back, she drew him back in. And then she nearly died – _fuck –_ and that’s when he couldn’t do anything about it anymore. If he was going to be invested, well then he was going to be invested. But the repercussions of that didn’t seem like they would affect anyone but him at the time. _They were right. What if you’re on a mission with Blair AND Roxy or anyone else? Huh? What then? How could you let yourself get like this? After Harry? After losing him? What makes you think you can handle losing someone else that you care so much about?_ They were all too invested. All of them. Just like Arthur had said. _But then what does that mean? Can we be close without being close?_  

            Pulling himself off of the floor, Eggsy stormed into the bathroom, flung the shower handle to its hottest setting, and threw his clothes around the room. The anger was returning, and he desperately needed the water to wash it away – to provide some sense of what he was supposed to do. _You’re gonna listen to Arthur. Go home, play with Daisy, talk to mum. There’s nothing else you can do right now._

* * *

             She felt uncomfortable going to whatever event this evening was bringing about in her jumper, so when she woke up and saw that Andrew was sound asleep, Blair slipped out of the dorm to find Roxy. _Roxy will know – she knows everything._ Upon reaching her mentor’s hall, she spotted Roxy not in her room, but on her way out.

            “Hey Roxy!” Blair yelled before Roxy could turn the corner.

            “Oh, Blair, hey,” she waved before crossing one of her arms over her body to hold onto the other, waiting for Blair to catch up. “What’s going on?” Blair eventually fell into step with Roxy, but thought that she didn’t necessarily have a particular destination in mind.

            “I was wonderin’... whatever this thing is tonight, what’s the dress code? Are Andrew and I okay in these,” she gestured down to her uniform, “or should we wear suits? I know Arthur had one made for me - not just dresses.” Roxy contemplated the question for a minute before answering.

            “I’d wear a suit. Just because it’ll be your first time meeting everyone officially. Yeah, I’ll be wearing a suit...” she mumbled. Blair reached out to a put a hand on Roxy’s shoulder, bringing the two to a stop.

            “You alright? You seem... distant?” Roxy smiled with her lips closed off, but nearly shrugged Blair’s hand off her shoulder.

            “Yeah! Of course!” She said, a bit too cheery. “Just running through some logistics in my head. Listen, I’ve got to run something by Arthur before we all meet for tonight, so I’ll see you in a bit, yeah? 5 o’clock in the ballroom,” and she started to walk away before Blair could even say “see you then.” _That was weird. Maybe it’s something with her dad again? I surely hope it’s not._ She thought briefly about going to Eggsy’s room to see if he knew what was going on with Roxy, but thought better off it when she looked down at her watch. It was 4:30, and if she was going to be able to put a suit on with her practically useless arm, then she needed all the time she could get.

            When she reached the dorm, she saw that Andrew was still sleeping and decided to get her revenge from earlier in the day by throwing a pillow now to wake him up. Blair lined it up perfectly, the pillow landing directly on his face, causing him to grab a knife from out of nowhere and cut through the pillowcase. Blair held her hands to her mouth, trying to hide her giggles but also making a mental note to never wait him up again.

            “Blair!” He screamed, throwing the pillow to the side and dropping the knife to the floor, ultimately getting up to chase her around the room.

            “How was I supposed to know that you keep a knife under your pillow?!” She shrieked in false terror.

            “The real question is why don’t you have a knife under your pillow?” He reached her then, grabbing her carefully by the waist. Using her good hand, she pounded her fist on his chest, screaming about needing to get ready and that she was only trying to wake him up. “Ready for what? I thought we were goin’ in these?” He asked, gesturing down to his uniform.

            “Nope, found Roxy. She said to wear suits tonight. And that’s fine, cause I would feel weird meeting the older Kingsman dressed in this.” There was a knock at the door then, and one of the tailors from the shop stepped in.

            “Well isn’t that convenient?” Andrew smirked, handing Blair her smaller, jet black suit and a box which she had assumed were a new pair of heels. “How does he do that?” Blair shrugged, and stepped into a stall. Letting her jumper fall to the floor in a heap, she slowly began to button up her cream dress shirt before slipping into her new pants. The material was a bit heavier than she expected, but it was the first time she had ever put on a suit like this. _It’s just the bulletproof material..._ A smile pulled at her lips at the thought that she was bulletproof. _Well mostly anyways. How do people not freak out about this more often?_ Deciding to leave her hair as it was, in loose curls, Blair slid back the curtain.

            Andrew stood before her, looking as dapper as he did the night of their mission, in his dark-as-the-night-sky suit, oxfords and all. She held out her jacket to him, wordlessly asking him to help her put it on. Arm in arm, they walked over to a full length mirror on the opposite side of the room, doubling checking that everything was in place.

            “Damn. We look good.” Blair laughed and pulled Andrew to the door.

            “We’ve got to get going. They’ll be expecting us.” They had never been in the ballroom before, only passing it on several occasions, but what they walked into fell short of their expectations. The room itself was gorgeous – vaulted ceilings with massive paintings covering the walls. The chandelier casted shadows along the room and light danced across their suits. Blair had known that there weren’t that many Kingsman agents with UK HQ, but she had expected more than the five faces that greeted her – four really if you count that fact that Eggsy wouldn’t look at her at all. Arthur strode up to the pair, handing them each their official glasses.

            “You’ll be needing these,” he whispered before turning around and introducing them to the two agents she didn’t recognize. Andrew elbowed her in the ribs, and then pointed to the glasses she had yet to put on. Bringing them up to her face, the room filled with at least 20 more people – _holograms?!_ – and she drew in a sharp breath. Arthur immediately took her by the arm, pulling her away from Andrew’s perplexed persona, and dragged her around the room, introducing her to men from all of the world.


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for the wait guys. Things have just been really busy and I've been trying to figure out where I want to go with the rest of this fic. I do only have a few more chapters planned, but while this story will be ending soon, I'll still be active on my tumblr (kingsman-recruits.tumblr.com), and I am always happy to take requests. Hope you guys enjoy!

            She had been tastefully dismissed by the Chinese, criticized by the Russians, and there was a mutual ignorance between her and the French. Arthur had been dragging Blair around to the highest ranking Kingsman from around the world that had the time to show their faces, but there wasn’t a single person that truly meant “congratulations” when it slipped out of their mouths. Blair knew that Arthur was trying to show her, and Roxy by extension, off as successful female Kingsman, but no one bought it. As she listened to Arthur drone on about her weapons scores to a man from the South African branch, her eyes darted around the room, landing on Eggsy. He was with Andrew and one of the few men that was actually present in the room. _Must be one of ours._

            “Mr. Venter, would you excuse us?” Her head whipped back to the conversation she was supposed to be involved in and shook the other man’s hand. Arthur placed his hand on the small of her back, leading her across the ballroom. “Blair, you seemed distracted,” he whispered.

            “Sor – Sorry, Arthur. It’s just that it gets to be a bit tedious when everyone you’re talking to looks down on you, like you didn’t earn your spot. They’ve all been fine with Andrew...” she huffed. It was true, though. Blair had been watching him as the night went on, and even the French seemed to be intrigued by his conversation. There were laughs being shared wherever he went, and yet Blair couldn’t even get someone to smile at her. Not even from the people that were supposed to be on her side. Roxy had joined her and Arthur occasionally, but feeling the same loathing that Blair had, tended to stick to the outer walls with another, more friendly, and slightly familiar, looking agent. Andrew, of course, had been loving and soaking in the attention, which Blair didn’t blame him for, but he didn’t have time to spare her a look. And then there was Eggsy, who had gone from his happy self on the plane that morning to a brooding agent who looked less than thrilled to be there. Blair had tried to catch his eye a few times so she could somehow telepathically let him know that he wasn’t the only one who wasn’t enjoying himself, but whenever she thought they she had a chance at making eye contact, he would take another sip of champagne, lifting his eyes to the chandelier rather than to her.

            “Well then, let’s go meet someone who won’t treat you like an inferior.”

            “Wait, you mean that there is actually someone here that won’t make me feel bad about myself?” She kept the joking tone in her voice, but Arthur’s glance down at her made her know that he understood her frustration. “Why didn’t we meet him first?”

            “It’s not him that we needed to convince of your worth.” His hand bent in on her back slightly to divert her in the direction of Roxy and the man she had been with all night. The two had been having a quiet conversation when Arthur and Blair approached, but ceased it the moment Arthur pushed Blair closer to the man. For the first time that evening, Roxy smiled between the pair, and began the introduction.

            “Blair, I want you to meet Percival. He’s my mentor,” she explained, fondly. Percival stuck his hand out to Blair, and shook hers enthusiastically. Blair was thrown off momentarily, and both Arthur and Roxy’s mentor let out a laugh.

            “Blair, it’s so nice to see you again. Roxy and Arthur here have been keeping me up to date on all of your experiences with Kingsman so far. Your parents would have been so proud.” _My parents? “See you again?” I... how?_ Blair looked the man up and down, taking in every feature, from the way his hair was parted to the side and gelled down, to his slightly upturned nose, and then to his cheeks that were strained against his smiling mouth. He was watching her with curious eyes, and stated “you’ve seen the picture then.” _The picture! Of course!_

            “What picture?” Roxy asked glancing between the three of them.

            “Arthur...” she thought out loud, “Arthur showed me a picture a while ago. It was the day I was born. You both were there? And Harry. Harry was there. There was another man too, right Arthur?” Percival’s eye cast downward and Arthur’s smile faltered slightly.

            “Yes, the other man in the picture was James. He was the previous Lancelot.” Roxy’s head fell then too, the mentioning over her name’s previous owner weighing heavily in the conversation. After a moment of silence, Arthur excused himself to let the three agents talk.

            “Blair, I was just telling Roxy here about my final mission as a recruit. Your dad was there actually. Very young, very bold that lad was,” Percival chuckled. “I remember it so clearly, your dad had somehow convinced Arthur to let him handle me that day. He had desperately wanted to learn the ropes of all of the positions here, and the only one he hadn’t been able to do was Arthur’s job. So he let Jonathan handle what was supposed to be a very easy, very clean assassination of a Russian gang head that had been aiding the Chinese in some con that is escaping me at the moment and things were going fine – I was in, blending as much as I could for a clearly British white male, but then Jonathan. Oh god,” he paused, pinching the bridge of his nose, “Jonathan saw the mark’s wife – tiny, tiny, little woman he expected absolutely no fight from –  from my feed, and thought it would be best to start by going after her.

            “‘Charm her,’ he told me. You know, draw the attention of the boss so he could take me to the back and ‘teach me a lesson,’ but he severely underestimated her – I severely underestimated her. What could have been a simple kill turned into a complete nightmare. The wife, herself, was a former member of the gang who ended up being the strongest person I have ever met. She single-handedly dragged me out of the club, me fighting and all, and threw me in the boot of her car after duct taping my hands together. To this day, by the way, I cannot, for the life of me, remember where she had pulled the duct tape from. I ended up being driven around in the boot of this woman’s car for nearly 45 minutes to a warehouse, where her husband had followed her to kill me. Jonathan was never allowed to handle anyone ever again.”

            Percival was nearly in tears by the time he finished recounting the story, and both Blair and Roxy looked slightly mortified at the thought of being taped up in the boot of a car for so long, but laughed along with Percival when he reassured them that it wasn’t as bad as it sounded. For the first time all evening, Blair had allowed herself to unwind and forget about all of the people that didn’t care about her and all of the people that were acting weird around her. Percival made the girls laugh and told them stories, and made sure that they each knew how much they were vital parts of the organization.

            “Like I’ve told Roxy from the beginning, it’s going to be people like you two that are going to change the future of Kingsman. Eggsy and Andrew as well. Roxy, I am remembering correctly that Andrew is also from the same type of background as Eggsy?” Roxy nodded, and they collectively looked over to Andrew who was now standing near the bar by himself. “Blair, it’s been lovely talking to you, but I have yet to introduce myself to our other newest member.”

            “Of course, thank you for everything.” Percival tipped his head as farewell, and left Roxy and Blair to their own devices. The room was finally starting to clear out, and only a few stragglers were left talking to Arthur. Blair looked around for the man she had seen Eggsy and Andrew talking to earlier, the other man she had expected to be one of their own, but he was nowhere to be seen.

            “Rox, who is the other UK agent that was here? He was talking to Eggsy and Andrew earlier?”

            “That was Bors. He didn’t talk to you, did he?” Blair shook her hear. “Figures. He’s not a big fan of mine either.” The girls shared a look of understanding, and went back to watching the stragglers thank Arthur for having them. As the final men disappeared, Arthur waved his hand, drawing Blair, Roxy, and Andrew over to him.

            “Well, that’s it then. Blair, Andrew, congratulations once again. Tomorrow, the real work begins, but for now, it looks like you could all use some sleep. Your new rooms have been prepared – Blair, your room is down the same hall that the dorm was in; Andrew, you’re down near the library. Both of your doors have your names on them. Nine hundred sharp, we will meet in command. You’re all dismissed.” Arthur walked over to where Percival was waiting in the corner, and Roxy followed him off, turning to say “good night,” before she followed the older men out of the room. Blair looked over to Andrew and laughed when she saw how flushed his cheeks were.

            “I may ‘ave had a bit too much to drink,” he hiccupped as they began to walk out of the ball room.

            “I’d say so. You looked like you had a good time, though?” He nodded his head and then winced at the pain that had caused. “Was Eggsy alright though? He looked off?” She asked as they approached the main door where they would eventually have to split off in different directions.

            “I dunno to be honest. He was actin’ a bit strange and then he was gone. ‘M sure he’ll be alright tomorrow. Listen, I think I‘ma take Arthur’s advice and get some sleep. See you tomorrow?”

            “Yeah, see ya tomorrow.” Andrew rubbed the back of his neck with one hand and waved with the other as he turned towards the library. Blair turned the opposite way, towards the front of the mansion, so she could make it back to where the dorms were. Her mind wandered to the events of the day – how they started off so perfect and how they ended leaving her so confused. And it wasn’t just Eggsy that had been acting weird, it had been Roxy too. _What happened that changed everything?_ As she rounded the next corner, she nearly bumped into the person causing a majority of her confusion.

            “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.” Eggsy breathed out. He looked worn down – the circles under his eyes deeper and darker than usual, bringing out the red splotches his eyes held from exhaustion, while his back hunched forward, and his voice was scratchy.

            “It’s a – it’s alright. Are – are you okay? Didn’t really see you around much this evening.” He looked sheepish as he apologized again. “Eggsy, what’s going on? Both you and Roxy have been acting strange ever since we got back.” Eggsy blew a stream of air out of his mouth and shoved his hands into his pockets as he began to walk with her to her new room.

            “Arthur’s sendin’ me home for a few days,” he started. “Says that my psych evaluation showed some issues and that I need to take a break to wrap my head around some things. Roxy’s being sent home the week after I come back.” Blair looked up at him as they walked, but he still wouldn’t look her directly in the eye. _There’s something he’s not telling me._

            “Well... that’s not awful though, right? I mean, you’ll get to relax and spend some time with your mom and sister. I’m sure they miss you.” _I’ll miss you though – Blair, shut up._

            “Yeah. It’s not that bad,” he sighed as he pointed to her door off at the end of the hall. “That’s you down there. I – uh, I just – I just wanted to tell you so you didn’t find out in the morning when I wasn’t there.” Blair was about to thank him and tell him that she’d still be here when he got back, but then thought better of it. He sensed her hesitation, and gave her a tired smile before leaning in to hug her, and then hesitating himself. Blair followed through though on the hug, not wanting to let him go, and for a second, his body relaxed into hers. They stood there, wrapped tightly in each other’s arms before he finally leaned away and whispered, “I’ll see you soon.”

            Blair watched as he left, and only retreated to her room when she was sure he wasn’t coming back. She didn’t know why she had thought that maybe, just maybe, he’d come back and he’d tell her what was really bothering him, but she had hoped, and it didn’t happen. Slowly making her way to the door with a giant Kingsman logo and the name “Kay” written under it, she forced herself to think that maybe some time by herself was a good thing. _You be able to focus on whatever Arthur has you observing this week since you still can’t actually do anything. And besides, your first few weeks as an agent will shape everything. Maybe it’s good that Eggsy’s not going to be around. Maybe this is for the best?_

            All Blair knew for sure was that Andrew’s prediction of her and Eggsy getting together within the next week wasn’t going to happen and that part of her was heartbroken even though she knew she shouldn’t be.


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so unbelievable sorry it has taken me so long to get this next chapter up. Things have been insane the past couple of weeks, but I am going to do my best to get the last couple of updates out quickly.

            Eggsy’s first few days home had been more exhausting than he could have ever expected. Compared to what he had to go with daily for Kingsman, being home hangin’ with mum, Daisy, and his friends should have been a welcomed sigh of relief, but Eggsy found himself more stressed than usual. This had been his first extended stay at his/his family’s home since V-Day, and he hadn’t realized how hard keeping things from his mum would be once he was surrounded by her almost 24/7. _She’s been great really,_ he nagged himself, feeling bad for thinking that this would be easier if he didn’t have to deal with Michelle.

            She had asked questions, of course. She had since he began calling her weekly to check in, but she never pushed him too hard. She had picked up quickly on the fact that was he was doing wasn’t necessarily illegal or wrong, but that it was dangerous and still demanded the type of secrecy Dean had always dealt with when he got himself involved in petty crimes. Eggsy had assured her, with a strained voiced and temper spiking, that nothing he did was comparable to Dean in any way, shape, or form, and she dropped specific questions then. But she always found a way to drag information out of him, and it was exhausting trying to determine what he could tell her and what he couldn’t, and there was a lot he couldn’t tell. His fourth day home was one of the days where she felt like pushing her luck.

            He had just finished putting Daisy to bed before he crashed on his own. Since his return, Daisy had been attached to his hip every time he was in the vicinity, and he didn’t mind most of the time. But being around her reminded him of how much he had missed, and as the calendar got closer to his return date, his heart ached, not knowing where he needed, or wanted, to be more. Eggsy had been sort of successful in limiting his thoughts of Blair when he was around his friends, but she always found a way to sneak back into his thoughts whenever he closed his eyes for too long or when he smelt the sweetness of the banana pancakes Michelle would make for breakfast that reminded him of how even though Blair hated bananas, she would always force herself to eat one at breakfast for the potassium – _“They help with foot cramps! Don’t look at me like that Eggsy! Next time you get a foot cramp, you will have no sympathy from me!”_

            And even now, as he stared at the ceiling above his bed, he was reminded of falling asleep in her lap just a few nights before. He hadn’t slept well since the morning after he had been confronted by Arthur and Roxy. The nightmares he had of losing any of them on a mission kept him up all hours of the night, and the bags under his eyes were even more noticeable than normal. His mother hadn’t taken lightly to him nearly falling asleep at breakfast either, that was, until this morning when she had laid off him, which he took gratefully. In fact, she had left him alone all day, letting him and Daisy lounge around the house in their pajamas without a fight. Though, as the sun set, and his room darkened, a tap on the door echoed through the room, and Eggsy knew it was time for one of Michelle’s talks.

            “Come in,” he spoke, softly, hoping his voice wouldn’t carry to Daisy’s room. Michelle opened the door with the push of her foot as her hands were each occupied by glasses of milk and a plate of cookies. Eggsy moved to help her, but she shook her head at her son, and placed the plate down on his dresser before handing him a glass. “Thanks mum,” he whispered with a smile. Michelle planted herself at the edge of her son’s bed, and took a bit of a cookie as she thought about how she wanted to start the conversation. Eggsy watched her with close eyes, noticing the slight changes in her – like the way she always sat up straight now instead of hoping to hid herself in a corner by slouching. He noticed the way her eyes still flickered away from him, not in fear of seeing harm done to him, no; more like she just still wasn’t used to seeing him okay – seeing him as his own man now. Michelle had changed a lot since V-Day, and without Dean in the picture, she was flourishing. Michelle’s eyes caught Eggsy’s own, and they shared a small, knowing smile before Michelle began to speak.

            “Luv, I know you can’t tell me much about what you do, but ever since you’ve gotten back, something’s been off.” Her voice was firm, but Eggsy could tell how much effort she was putting into keeping herself composed. “I just need to know that you’re alright.”

            “Mum, I’m fine,” he sighed, trying not to get annoyed with her concern. Truthfully, deep down, he felt relieved that someone outside of work was asking him. At the same time, however, he was annoyed with himself that he was in the position of not being alright. _You’re supposed to be the backbone of this family. Don’t fall apart now._

            “It’s just that... well, that you’ve been _actin’_ different since being back.” The annoyance was stronger then, because if she had noticed a change in his behavior that meant all of his exhaustion due to acting normal had been for naught.

            “No, I ‘aven’t, mum. I’ve been goin’ out with the boys,” he retorted, counting out on his fingers all the ways that he had been _normal_. “I’ve been takin’ care of Daisy. Helpin’ you out ‘round ‘ere. Wha’ else do you want me to do?” Michelle flinched slightly as his voice rose, and Eggsy immediately felt guilty. He was about to apologize when she reached over and patted his hand.

            “I know, luv, I know you’ve been doing all of those things. And sometimes I think you are just my little boy before everything ‘appened, but you and I both know a lot has changed. When you’re with Daisy, things seem alright, but Eggsy, somethin’ _has_ changed.” Her whole body had somehow moved up the length on his bed so that she was sitting directly in front of him, hands resting on his, empty glass of milk forgotten on the floor. “I can’t put my finger on it exactly, but I know somethin’ happened. I can tell whenever you think ‘m not looking. It’s like you’re somewhere else entirely, and it’s not long before you’re back, but you always look different after whenever you go out like that.”

            Eggsy heaved a sigh and refused to look at Michelle directly. _So she’s noticed things ‘ave been off. You’ve gotta get better at hidin’ that stuff. Blair can’t be your weakness. It’s not fair to you and it’s not fair to her._ Michelle shifted herself on the bed, in part to remind Eggsy that she was still there, and when he looked back at her, she said, “you’ve just done it again.” His hand rose up from the bed and propped itself on his knee, allowing his head to promptly fall into a resting position. He sat like that for a second before leaning back against the wall and looking at Michelle.

            “Mum,” he began a bit hesitantly, “you know I can’t tell you what I do, but I know you get that it can be dangerous – like really dangerous.” Michelle sucked a deep breath in but urged Eggsy to continue. “The thing is... well, ‘m pretty good at my job,” – _you sound like Charlie –_ “but I’ve been gettin’ distracted lately by a girl I work with. She’s really good at what we do too, better than a lot of people, but I think... I think I distract her too. And in our field, distraction can lead to a lot of things goin’ wrong.

            “I got pulled aside by Roxy – the one that called you when the world went to shit – and our boss and they both think ‘m too ‘invested,’” he threw up air quotes for effect. “They said us bein’ together would be a liability. And that’s why I’ve been sorta distant since bein’ back – I’ve been tryin’ to figure out if she’s worth the risk, and if I’ll be able to handle what comes along in the future.” His mum stared at him, a look of amusement and maybe a hint of anger surfaced before she spoke.

            “What’s her name?”

            “Blair. Blair Asher.” She gave a slight nod and remained silent as she complied her thoughts.

            “Have you talked to Blair about what she wants to happen between the two of you?”

            “Well... uh... no? I actually kinda... ignored her for a majority of the last night I saw her...” Michelle’s face twisted into a red mess of anger and Eggsy flinched in anticipation of the scolding he was about to get.

            “Gary Unwin! ‘ave you not learned anythin’ ‘bout how not to treat women from our situation?! You _know_ ignorin’ her and bottlin’ up your problems isn’t gonna help you! You need ta talk ta her. Give her a say in what ‘appens between the two of you. Maybe she’ll say it’s a liability too and then you’ll ‘ave to accept that. Or maybe you’ll both work together to make sure that _both_ your happiness and safety are top priorities. Either way, Blair needs to have a say. This is what we’re gonna do...”

* * *

             “Now, did you see the way Percival nicked her cell phone as they were... well... when they were...” Arthur trailed off, his cheeks flaring.

            “When they were bangin’?” Andrew snickered, as Blair and Roxy hid their heads. Arthur’s cheeks deepened in color, and the youngest agents could tell how much he hated talking about sex and seduction with them outside of a strict classroom type setting.

            “You’re much cruder now that you’re officially an agent,” Roxy smirked.

            “Don’t ‘ave to impress you lot as much now,” Andrew threw back, and even Arthur found it in him to smile through his embarrassment. “’Sides, someone’s gotta be the crude one with Eggsy gone.” There were murmurs of agreement before the room when quiet, and then Arthur launched right back into Percival’s phone extraction technique as if Eggsy’s name had never been mentioned.

            They had been sat in command for the last hour and a half, watching Percival’s latest mission, which happened to be a honeypot mission. Since Eggsy’s departure a few days ago, Blair, Andrew, and Roxy had been observing the other agents’ missions, trying to learn even more through skilled observation. Roxy and Andrew had both been sent out into the field as well, but with Blair’s arm still acting up, she was forced to complete her strengthening exercises and then report to command every day with Arthur. She hadn’t minded it really, as Bors and Percival were experts at what they did, and it allowed her to think things through.

            _What exactly is this kind of life going to mean for you? Will you do this forever? Will you retire one day, old and tired, but filled with good stories that you might never been able to share? Will you fall in love with another agent in the field and marry him, like your parents did? Or will you find someone outside of this and you’ll never be able to fully commit to them? God, that’d be awful. What if you end up alone? Will your only friends be agents? Will you end up like Arthur, constantly in your office, supporting others? What will you do if an agent is killed in action? Will you die in action?_

The thoughts consumed her since becoming an agent, and while they scared her, so knew that this was where she was meant to be. She knew ever since finding out that this is what her parents did – it was the only way she could feel closer to them. So the questions didn’t scare her off, but rather they fueled her hopes that she’d get everything she wanted – everything her parents had – from this new life.

            Blair had completely zooned out to the point where she hadn’t noticed Roxy and Andrew leaving their seats until Andrew placed a hand on her shoulder and gestured for her to get up before Arthur noticed she hadn’t been paying attention. She sprung up from her chair and quickly followed Roxy and Andrew out of the room, avoiding Arthur’s eye.

            “You can borrow my notes,” Andrew offered when they were out of the immediate range of the office. Blair whispered her thanks as they dropped off Roxy at her room. When it was just the two of them, Andrew pushed her for information. “Are you alright? You stopped takin’ notes for the last 15 minutes. I’m... I’m sorry about the Eggsy comment.” Blair’s head turned up to look at Andrew and she sent him a small smile as if to say it wasn’t his fault.

            Blair hadn’t told Andrew or Roxy of her conversation with Eggsy the night of the gala, but they had both been watching her closely. Roxy had asked her on a couple of occasions how she was doing and Blair knew she was really asking how she was doing with Eggsy being gone, but other than that, Roxy had been relatively absent. She spent a lot of time locked up with Arthur in command, and neither Blair nor Andrew knew what was going on there. Something had changed when Kay and Lucan were inducted as the newest agents, but their lower seniority status seemed to be keeping them out of a lot of the conversations going on. Whenever Andrew asked how Blair was handling things, her go-to conversation change revolved around how everyone had been acting weird around them, and Andrew ate it up. But something about the way he was watching her now, in the hallway, told her that her usual distraction wasn’t going to work.

            “I’ve just got a lot on my mind, that’s all.”

            “Does any of it have to do with Eggsy?”

            “Some of it. Some of it, yeah.” Andrew nodded his head, her answer seemingly satisfactory. They stood in front of Blair’s door, Blair staring at the ground and Andrew staring at her, for a minute before he moved in to wrap her in his arms.

            “Well, you’ve always got me. You made me promise that I’d stick ‘round,” he chuckled. Blair felt her body jolt slightly with a stifled laugh, but silence and stillness quickly filled the air. “Blair, I don’t know what’s gonna happen with anythin’ – Eggsy, missions, anythin – but this is the life we picked and were chosen for and it’ll all work out in the end. It always does.” Blair nodded her head into his shoulder, and just held on to him tighter. They were interrupted by Roxy, who had appeared suddenly in the hallways, with a phone in her hand and a smile on her face.

            “Blair, where’s your phone?” She rushed out.

            “Uh, in my room, why?” She responded, pulling away from Andrew and opening the door to her small room in the mansion.

            “Eggsy just called me – he’s inviting us all to dinner at his place tomorrow night. He said he tried calling you first, but obviously you didn’t have your phone on you, so he asked that I pass the message along.” And sure enough, Blair had a missed call and a voicemail waiting for her from the missing agent.


	26. Chapter 26

           “Blair... Hey... it’s me. It’s Eggsy,” his voice hummed out of her phone. After quickly excusing herself from Andrew and Roxy, Blair locked herself in her room and stared at the phone in her hand, cursing the heavy beating of her heart. “I’ve been talking with my mum, and it’s getting harder to keep things from her ‘bout our work. She asks lots of questions – which I get – but it’s just hard. I think I’ve been able to hold her off though, with the promise that she could finally meet people from work in person. She’s insisting on making dinner for everyone – claims I don’t get enough home cooking and if everyone is workin’ as much as I am, then none of us are getting good homemade meals.” There was a pause before he continued, “So you’re all invited to dinner. Arthur, Roxy, Andrew, and you. Especially you,” another pause, “we need to talk, Blair. It’s my fault things got weird last time I saw you, and we just need to talk. I... I hope you’ll come. Mum wants to meet you, and Daisy, Daisy would like you, I think. Anyways, uh, you’re obviously busy right now, so I’ll call Roxy too to make sure the invitation gets ‘round. Dinner is tomorrow at 6, so I’ll talk to you then, I hope.” _Click._

            Slowly letting her arm fall, phone still clutched in it, Blair replayed the message in her head. _Dinner, Eggsy’s family, Eggsy wants to talk. Eggsy wants to talk to you. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. But it’s not necessarily a good thing either. You need to talk to him though. You cannot let this conversation get one-sided. You need to tell him everything you’ve been feeling or else you’ll get too wrapped up in your own mind._

            Glancing around the room, she found a piece of paper and a pen, and started to jot down bullet points of what she needed to say. She needed to get it all out.

* * *

             At 5:15, Arthur rushed them all into a car that he insisted driving himself. With Roxy in the passenger seat, Andrew and Blair took their spots in the back of the black, Kingsman issued car, and sat quietly while Roxy fiddled with the radio. Settling on a station, Roxy sat back, and let the slow medley swirl through the seats. Blair did not recognize the singer, nor the song, so she focused on the buildings that were crawling by. Traffic was a nightmare, but the slowness allowed her to focus on the faces she saw – a mother pushing her son in a stroller, a businessman with a briefcase talking quickly into his phone, a couple that looked to be on their first date – those faces revealing to her the world that she left behind. The world of considered simplicity, the world of everyday worries, the world where maybe she would have been alright, one day.

            Her new world was one that she was determined to be alright in every day. She could be sad because of her parents, knowing that that pain would never truly be gone, but she didn’t have to be afraid anymore. She spent all of the previous night writing and rewriting lists, some consisting of what she was going to say to Eggsy and some consisting of what she was going to do to be okay in this new world. Blair realized that she should have done this before becoming one of the newest agents, but there was no time for regret. A Kingsman agent could not focus their time and efforts into regretting something that did or did not happen. If she did, it would consume her. No, now Blair was going to do what made her happy.

            As she shuffled multiple pages of notes and a bottle of wine in her lap, she searched through the words and her thoughts to figure out exactly what and exactly who were going to make her happy. Things still weren’t 100% clear, but she had an inkling of what she had to do tonight, and she knew it wasn’t going to be easy.

* * *

             Blair’s shuffling was driving him crazy, but Andrew refused to say anything about it to her because he knew how nervous she had to be feeling. Eggsy was due to come back to work in just a few days and Roxy was due to take her leave. He also knew that Blair was going to be allowed in the field later in the coming week, so her first mission was on the horizons. She hadn’t mentioned anything about it other than a quick response when she was first told, feigning excitement in her confused state where too many things were happening at once. And now, they were only a few minutes away from Eggsy’s family’s home, where they would all eat dinner with his mother, hoping that none of them would be cornered into questions they couldn’t answer.

            Andrew was pretty sure that Arthur was using this occasion as a test as well. Before leaving, they did not spend any time coming up with a story that fit between all of them. All they knew was that they all worked at the same tailor shop – the rest was up to them. Quickly glancing over at Blair, Andrew knew that taking her out of her thoughts could throw her off entirely, so he resorted to coming up with a plan of attack by himself. They knew how to handle this – a dinner with one of their coworker’s family couldn’t throw off months of training.

            He kept his eyes on his window, the actual glass not the scenes rolling past him, so everything was fuzzy in his brain. Mentally, he processed that the car was beginning to slow back down after their initial hit of traffic, but a quick look at his watch told him they were slowing down because they were approaching their destination. The only noise in the car now was the purring of the radio as they made a series of turns down empty side streets, and Andrew turned his attention to Blair. The fiddling had stopped and her cheeks were as white as could be. Reaching a hand out to capture her own, Andrew sent her a small smile that she could not fully return. She had been quiet since they had received their invitation to Eggsy’s home, but Andrew knew that the wheels in his best friend’s head hadn’t stopped turning since she left him and Roxy alone in the hall to check the voicemail Eggsy had left.

            The car was now fully stopped, and a collective sigh was let loose. Arthur took the key out of the ignition, eyes flying up to the rearview mirror as he searched for signs of life from the backseat. Making eye contact with both of the new recruits, he tapped his hands on the wheel twice, and let out “It’s time,” before unlocking the doors and sliding out of his seat. Andrew followed suit, getting out before Roxy had fully gathered her purse, and managed to open her door for her. On the other side, he heard Arthur do the same for Blair, whispering something to her that Andrew couldn’t hear over the simultaneous closing of the car doors.

            The identical thuds of metal on metal drew out a woman in her 30s or 40s with blonde hair out of the door they had parked in front of. Crouching behind her was a toddler, who after peaking out from behind her mother’s legs, launched herself out of the doorway and into Arthur’s waiting arms. Andrew watched the strange scene unfold in front of him as the little girl latched herself onto Arthur's form. Arthur pulled her up to his full height, laughing as the girl let out a scream of delight before demanding to be put down and running straight for Roxy. It dawned on Andrew that this was clearly not Eggsy’s sister’s first time meeting Arthur and Roxy. Seeing the confused look on Andrew’s face, Arthur explained that Michelle – _must be Eggsy’s mum_ – had skyped them a few times to check in on Eggsy and to meet his coworkers virtually.

            “It was a way of seeing Eggsy, while keeping an eye on us. We’ve only talked a few times, but Daisy, his sister, has taken a liking to us,” Arthur whispered as Eggsy’s mum moved closer to the new recruits. A few steps behind her was a shy looking Eggsy who kept alternating between flat-out staring at Blair and looking at the ground in front of Arthur’s feet. Andrew’s attention was drawn from Eggsy’s behavior as he was pulled into a hug.

            “You must be Andrew! Eggsy’s told me so much about you! Well, not that much really,” she laughed as she shot a look at Eggsy, “but he told me that he’s your mentor?” She had pulled away from him now, and Andrew knew that she had decided to see if she could get more information out of the newcomers than she could out of her own son.

            “Yes ma’am, Eggsy’s been a real help at the shop. Really knows his way around.” She smiled and whispered “good boy,” more to Eggsy than to Andrew, and turned to face Blair. Andrew turned with her and saw that some of the color had returned to her cheeks, but that she was still nervous as she hastily shoved her papers into her purse. Fumbling with the wine bottle for just a second more, Blair took the first step towards Eggsy’s mum, and handed the bottle over.

            “Ms. Unwin, um, thank you for inviting us into your home,” she stumbled as she pushed the bottle into the older woman’s hands. “This is for you. I wasn’t sure what exactly you’d like, so I hope –,” she was cut off as she was wrapped in a hug just as Andrew was. Recovering from a momentary lapse of action, Blair let her arms wrap around the woman, grateful for the chance to not continue talking.

            “I’m sure it’ll be an excellent counterpart to our dinner. Thank you, Blair,” Michelle breathed out, patting Blair’s hair as she pulled away. A look crossed her face before she rushed out, “You are Blair, right? Eggsy hasn’t told me of any other girls he works with other than Roxy and Blair.” Blair laughed then, a small hiccup coming out as she looked at Eggsy, who was now supporting his own smirk, before nodding that she was, in fact, Blair. “Oh good, I gave myself a scare then. Well, come in!” She exclaimed, ushering them to the front door, glancing quickly over to Daisy, who was still attached to Roxy’s hip. “Dinner’s almost ready. Eggsy, why don’t you take everyone’s coats?” Eggsy’s muffled voice issued somewhere in the back of the procession, and suddenly coats where flying at him. Arthur quickly rushed past Andrew into the hallway and followed to smell of food to what Andrew guessed was the kitchen. Roxy followed suit, being dragged along by the toddler as she babbled about drawings she had made for Roxy since their last skype call. Next thing he knew, Andrew was in a cramped hallway with just Blair and Eggsy, and he could feel the tension mounting.

            Wanting to get out of there so they could talk, he hastily handed his coat over to Eggsy, uttering a quiet “thanks mate,” and running off down the hall. So focused on getting out of there, he didn’t look down to see the rug covering the floor, sending him flying through the air, letting out a yelp of surprise before he landed on the carpet. Soon, Blair and Eggsy were standing over him to help him up, while the other occupants of the house were rushing from their respective corners to make sure he was alright.

            “’M fine! ‘M fine. Sorry ‘bout that, Ms. Unwin,” he said, bending down to fix the rug so no one could see the flush of his cheeks.

            “It’s alright, luv. Are you sure you’re okay?” He could hear the concern in her voice, but couldn’t look at her due to embarrassment.

            “Completely fine,” he mumbled, waiting until he heard shuffling feet, signaling everyone’s departure. Standing up straight, and looking at the pictures on the walls, he could see out of the corner of his eye Blair handing Eggsy her coat and purse. Eggsy gave her a small smile, and not waiting to be caught, Andrew moved closer to the wall, in an attempt to look at the pictures more closely. A second later, Blair was at his side, giving him a questioning look. “Blair, ‘m fine. Sorry though.” Her face was still contorted with concern as she questioned why he was sorry. “Just sorry that I took away from yours and Eggsy’s reunion.” She blushed harder than he had expected and elbowed him into the dining room so they could be seated for dinner.

* * *

             Dinner proceeded with small talk as everyone shoved food into their mouths. His mother’s cooking had been improving significantly in the past few months since his departure, and he knew it was because of the cooking class she had decided to take when they had moved into their new house. With Dean out of the way, his mum wanted to better herself, and cooking classes were one of first things she had signed up to do. With the way everyone was digging in and complimenting her cooking, Eggsy knew Michelle’s confidence would skyrocket. She was so pleased with everyone’s reactions that she had decided to not dig too hard into what it was they were hiding. Instead, she went around the table asking questions of little importance, such as “Arthur, when are you finally going to take a day off?”, “Roxy, you should meet my friend’s son. You like doctors, right?”, and “Andrew, Eggsy tells me you grew up not too far from our old flat?”

            Things were going so much better than expected until Michelle directed a question at Blair. Asking her about her family, Eggsy drew in a sharp breath, and the collective room seemed to be waiting with baited breath. Blair, who had been sitting directly across from Eggsy, looked to the head of the table where his mother sat, and explained that her parents had both passed away when she was younger. She kept the story simple, and Michelle did not press any further, repeatedly apologizing, and then excusing herself to retrieve dessert from the kitchen. Arthur got up to help her, leaving the younger generation of knights and his sister at the table.

            “Blair, I’m sorry. I didn’t know she was going to ask that. I should have told her not to before you guys got here,” Eggsy said, searching her any tears or looks of hurt on her face. He found none.

            “It’s alright, Eggsy. It’s only natural to ask. Really,” she pleaded, “it’s fine. I’m fine. No reason to feel bad.” She caught his eye then, and nodded, assuring him that it really was okay. He breathed a sigh of relief as his mum and Arthur came back into the room carrying an apple tart and ice cream. Clearly wanting to make his mum feel better, Blair started the conversation, discussing how she hadn’t had a good apple tart in a long time and then continued to rave about his mother’s. As Blair reached out to the table to take another helping of tart, Eggsy saw his mother watching her fondly and then giving Eggsy a smile of approval. That smile from his mother was going to make his decision a whole lot harder.

* * *

             Blair was trying to be involved in the conversation. She really wanted Eggsy’s mum to like her, and she wanted this evening to assure everyone that she was okay. These past few days of being down and depressed had to come to an end. She didn’t want people to feel the need to be cautious around her. She was ready to take on her new responsibilities, and it was time to prove that. This evening wasn’t only an excuse to get out of headquarters, but it was an opportunity – one that Blair wasn’t going to waste.

            That is what she had decided on the car ride over here, but acting on that was proving to be a bit more difficult. Blair had been engaging, and she could see that Arthur, Andrew, and Roxy were becoming less and less concerned about her throughout the night, but in the back of Blair’s mind, she knew that she still had a hurdle to jump over. Over the course of the two hours that the Kingsman had been at the Unwin household, Eggsy and her had only exchanged a few words. Andrew’s accident at the beginning of the night had torn them away from their first chance of even saying hello to each other, then they briefly spoke directly at dinner about her parents, and then that was it. They would each occasionally throw in a comment directed at something the other had said in the conversation, but then quickly resumed talking with the others.

            Blair had caught Eggsy watching her a few times, and he had caught her, and each time they would blush and look away as fast as possible. Blair would then catch Michelle watching the both of them during these encounters, and she’d find herself even more flustered than before. The last time she had felt like this, like there was so much anticipation and anxiety within her that she was getting ready to burst, was when she first saw him shirtless around headquarters and when he kept teasing her about. She suddenly had no idea what to say, and her cheeks were in a constant state of blushing, and her stomach was doing flips. That used to be a wonderful feeling, but now it scared her. She didn’t want it to be like this with him always – it could get in the way. She’d have to learn how to deal with it, one way or the other.

            Blair was so caught up in her thoughts that she had to be drawn back in by an elbow to the stomach. Roxy was watching her as she came back into the conversation, completely unaware of what they were talking about. Everyone was looking at her and the concern was back on their faces. Flashing a smile, and uttering an apology, Blair stood up and smoothed out her skirt.

            “Sorry, I... uh. Sorry about that,” her cheeks turned an even brighter shade of red. “May I use your bathroom?” She asked, eyes looked on Michelle’s so she didn’t have to see Eggsy who was sat next to her with Daisy in his arms.

            “Of course, dear. Take a left out here, back towards the front door. Then you can use the one up the stairs at the end of the hallway on your right. I’m afraid we are having some work done on the bathroom down here.” Blair nodded her head in thanks, kept her eyes down, and nearly sprinted out of the room, down the hallway, and up the stairs. Once she was finally away from everyone, Blair slowed down, taking in her surroundings. There were more pictures up here – mostly recent pictures Michelle and Daisy, as Eggsy had not been home for much time after V-Day. But as she made her way closer to the bathroom, she saw a small frame on the wall with a picture of Eggsy holding a smiling Daisy. It had to have been taken in the last few days, as Eggsy still had a few cuts and bruises showing from their final mission. The corners of Blair’s mouth pushed up into a smile, the first truly genuine one all night.

            Finally reaching the bathroom, Blair tugged the door shut and shuffled her way over to the sink. She ran some cold water over her wrists to cool herself off, and grabbed the hand towel before looking at herself in the mirror. She was a mess – the redness of her cheeks was only now starting to fade, her hair was all over the place after allowing Daisy to practice braiding it, and she could see a piece of spinach stuck in her teeth from dinner. Furiously putting herself together physically, she willed herself to pull back together mentally. _You just gotta find him alone and talk. Once you talk, no matter what happens, you’ll feel slightly better._

            Chanting to herself that she could handle this, Blair exited the bathroom and almost tripped over something that had not been there before: Daisy. She was sitting cross-legged outside the door, clearly waiting for something. Blair stumbled for a second before apologizing for taking the bathroom for too long. Daisy shook her head, reached out her hand, and took Blair’s before taking off down the hallway. Following Daisy down the hall she had come, she turned right instead of left, which would have taken her back down the stairs. Daisy came to a stop two doors down, glanced back to the stairs, and then lead Blair inside the room. Immediately recognizing the smell, Blair started to pull Daisy back out of the room.

            “Daisy, we shouldn’t be here without your brother’s permission,” she began, but Daisy pulled her right back in.

            “I wanted to show you somefin’...” the toddler told her before dragging her over to Eggsy’s night stand. Blair looked around before scolding herself, but her eyes caught on a picture of a younger Eggsy, blowing out the candles of his birthday cake. In the corner of the picture were his mum and, who Blair assumed to be, his dad. Blair was about to cross the room to get a better look at the photo, but a tug on her shirt pulled her attention back to her partner in crime. Daisy pointed up to the top of the dresser and Blair followed her gesture up to another photo. It was her. Her and Eggsy taken during one of their first training sessions. She never even knew that pictures were taken during those sessions, but here they were, side by side, in fight stances. Both were smiling at each other, and Blair could remember why - Eggsy had been demonstrating one of Austin’s fights that she had missed where he had technically won against his opponent, but only because he tripped and stumbled into the other guy, knocking them both down, but Austin had been on top and grabbed the other guy’s arms on the way down. Cliff, of course, had given him the win. Blair laughed at the memory, but shut up as soon as a third head peaked into the room.

            “I was beginning to think you’d gotten lost...” Eggsy said, eyeing the pair. Blair looked at the toddler, who simply shrugged her shoulders and left the two alone. Blair was about to rush out the explanation, but Eggsy held up a hand. “No really... I... uh... I asked her to come up here and grab you so we could talk.” Suddenly the room felt very small, and they were both blushing again.

            “No!” Blair shouted, shaking her head – _good get it out there Blair. Tell him how you need it to be_. “No, no, we can’t do this anymore – this whole bashful act. I don’t know what’s going on, Eggsy. Between us, between Roxy and Arthur who have been weird ever since you left. We can’t do this anymore until we know what it means.” Eggsy looked taken back by Blair’s outburst, and she surprised herself. “Sorry, I just – I don’t know what happening anymore. I feel like less than a week ago we were on the same page, but then within a few hours, you would barely speak to me? I’m sorry, Eggsy. It’s just not fair to the both of us.” Blair studied his face as Eggsy tried to come up with a comeback, but he ultimately looked defeated, and sided with her.

            “You’re right, it’s not fair to either of us. I can’t leave you like that again if we are going to try and make this work,” he nodded along, but stopping all movement when he saw Blair’s face. “What?”

            “Do you wanna try to make this work?” She squeaked, not daring to look at him. Realization dawned on his face, and Eggsy was blushing even harder. He smiled then, hiding his cheeks behinds his hands, trying to hide the blush from Blair. She chuckled at his antics, before moving to sit on his bed.

            “Do _you_ wanna make this work?” He asked as he made his way to sit by her.

            “Can I be honest?” She asked, as the color drained from his face. “I do. I really do wanna make it work. But I’m scare. What if something happens to one of us? What if it doesn’t work out?” Staring ahead at his desk, Eggsy sighed.

            “That’s why Roxy and Arthur have been worried about. That’s why they’ve been acting weird. When we got back from the US, Arthur sat me down and said that if we were to get together, we would be a liability. Rox agreed with him and I kinda blew up and that’s why they did whatever they did when I was gone.”

            “Why didn’t they tell me any of this?! Can I not be trusted to respond well enough to the criticism or whatever they thought that was?” Blair was now pacing the room, having forgone the sitting. Around her third pass of the bed, Eggsy grabbed her wrist to pull her back into down.

            “They were probably afraid you’d act like you are right now. You can be much scarier than me,” his tone was joking, but he shrunk back when Blair glared at him. “But they have a point,” he pushed on. “We could be a liability. We’d have agree right now that nothing will get in the way of the missions. If we think we can do that, then I think we should try. If we can’t do that, then I think we should still try, because I don’t think I can go through this anymore without you,” Blair could feel her heart racing – constant beats drumming in her chest that she was sure Eggsy could hear. “I don’t care that it sounds cheesy, but after V-Day and everything, I don’t want to do this alone. Rox, Arthur, and Andrew are fantastic friends, and without them, I don’t know what I’d do. But without you, if we were together or not, I’d be lost. Either way, I’d be lost, Blair.”

            Blair was at a loss. She was speechless – _lost? He’d be lost? Yes, that’s what he said. Would you be lost without him? Yes, yes, I think so. If things don’t work out – then they don’t work out, but we need to figure that out –_ “Blair, you wanna share some of those thoughts? I can see you thinking. If you don’t want this, then... then that’s okay. Ijustwantyoutobehappy.” Eggsy turned his head away from her then, and Blair wanted to give him his time, but she also couldn’t not comfort him somehow, so she leaned her head onto his shoulder and just stayed there for a moment.

            “I’d be lost without you too. It scares me to admit that to you – it scares me that I could possibly feel that way, because I’ve never been that dependent on someone, but I do.” At that, Eggsy shifted his arm so it was resting behind her, and she curled even closer. “Are we really gonna do this?” She asked, closing her eyes.

            “Yeah, yeah, we should do this. I wanna do this.” His sincerity made her smile – _they were actually going to do this._ Suddenly, she felt a surge of desire, and she flicked her eyes up at him.

            “Well then... are you gonna kiss me or what?”

* * *

             Michelle hadn’t seemed worried that Eggsy and Blair had been gone for so long, but after his third time of asking if they should go check in with the younger recruits, Michelle finally said, “No, give them some time to talk. Eggsy’s told me a little bit about their predicament, and they both need some time to talk.” Arthur nodded his head, but he heard Andrew snicker and whisper to Roxy something about doubting them actually talking.

            Arthur tried to focus on Daisy over in the corner, drawing a new picture, when he heard footsteps coming down the stairs. A few seconds later, Blair and Eggsy walked into the room, hand-in-hand. Andrew whistled at the pair, earning another session of joint blushing. Arthur stared expectantly at the two, waiting for an explanation, while trying to hide his smile.

            “Sorry everyone,” Eggsy grinned, “but it looks like you’re gonna have to get used to us disappearing for a while.” Blair looked mortified, and Eggsy looked thrilled, but Arthur was secretly delighted that Blair was, once again, following in her parents’ footsteps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I have many things to apologize for. The first being how long it has taken to get this out. Things got busy. School got hectic. I just didn't have time. And for that, I am truly sorry. I am also sorry the ending seems a bit rushed. I wanted to develop the final conversation between Blair and Eggsy a bit more, but I'm literally about to get on a plane, so that's the way it is. I might be interested in continuing the story if enough people express interest, but it wouldn't be until this summer. Things are about to get even crazier in my life.
> 
> Finally... Thank you. Thank you to all of my wonderful readers. Without you guys, this just would have been another idea in my head. Thank you for your comments, kudos, and bookmarks. Thank you for sticking with me until the end.


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